Posts tagged as:

love

Artwork & Content Copyright 2010 Jean Burman

There has been a lot of talk lately on blogs about the virtues of the Minimalist lifestyle.

For the uninitiated… minimalism is where the “stuff” of life is pared down to the bare essentials.  The idea here is that people should divest themselves of as many material goods, people and things as is practically possible.

Lose the house, the wife, the beamer, and the Blahniks… but keep the surfboard.  You know… that sort of thing. Now put the remaining contents of your life (no more than 20 things) into a suitcase and get on with your life.  Do what you want to do. Be who you want to be. Get a life… but make it a basic one… *sigh* [Grin]

So who does this apply to? And how will the downsize impact upon everyone else in your life?

Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand the thrust of the argument. And I am not completely averse.

In this crazy consumer driven society we are presently attempting to subsist in… there is definitely a call for moderation in the accumulation of “stuff”. Especially for anyone who has ever owned three Porches a couple of Penthouses a home in the country and two standard Poodles all at the same time… not necessarily in that order… and not necessarily on the same continent! [chuckles]

But what about the rest of us?

Is minimalism really something we should be aspiring to?

I may be playing the devils advocate here. But someone has to ask the question and I reckon it may as well be me! [insert cheeky grin here] And in asking the question…  I do acknowledge that many people have had minimalism foisted upon them because of the global financial crisis or for other reasons beyond their control.  We are not talking here about them.

But in the cold hard light of day… if we were to have a real choice… would we actually choose to live a spartan existence?  Is scrimping and saving… nipping and tucking on a lifestyle that might already be modest by the average standard really a good thing to do? Or should we be trying for… and aspiring to bigger and better things?

The Dictionary description of the opposing types gives us a clue as to what we are really dealing with here.

A Minimalist [noun] is one who advocates a moderate conservative approach action or policy.

A Maximalist [noun]  is a person who favors direct or revolutionary action to achieve a goal.

So if a Maximalist is someone who favours direct or revolutionary action to achieve a goal… I reckon I would rather be a Maximalist!  [Who are we to deny ourselves the comfort of abundance?] *wink*


“Time Was” Copyright 2010 Jean Burman

My Grandmother’s watch…

By abundance I don’t mean… luxury.  And I’m not advocating wasteful excess either.  What I am talking about is ownership of the small things that make our life not only comfortable familiar and safe… but also joyful fun and inspiring.  Because despite what we all might say or think… “things” do bring us joy.  They connect us to the people we know and have known and the places we have been and loved.

We come into the world with nothing and we all just as surely go out the same way. Why not then… while we are here… and to the best of our capacity to provide for it… allow ourselves the luxury of owning a few key material things that can make our life great?

The other day I dug out three small much loved recipe books I bought for myself over half a lifetime ago. All those years ago they promised Minimum Effort Maximum Effect… and on that they have delivered! As a metaphor for life I like that! Grin. The pages are dog-eared and splattered with the ingredients of a thousand wonderful dinners prepared with love over all those years.  I love those little books.  They have brought me joy and will continue to do so for many years to come!

Life is here for us to live and enjoy.  Each and every day.  And as long as we are not hurting anyone… harming anything… being careless with the gifts of love and material goods that are bestowed upon us… let’s just enjoy it all.  We have so little time.  It’s now or never.  So go on… live a little…

Live Life to the Max!

{ 5 comments } Leave a comment

Subscribe For Email Updates

Become a regular here at the blog!
Enter your email address below:


Connect The Dots!

April 17, 2010 · 5 comments

Connect the DotsCartoon Pen & Watercolor

© 2010 Jean Burman

“Small steps taken often”… is a good prescription for life.
In time they will take us to where we want to go.

If we -
Work diligently
Live lovingly
Hope unfailingly
Eat sparingly *wink*
And do it now…

In time we might look behind to see how far we’ve come
and see how we prevailed.

In time we might look back with a mixture of laughter and regret
and know that at least we survived.

In time we will connect the dots
and see the pattern of our life.

But not before we have lived it…
nor before we have loved more than we have lost.

No-one knows where the future might lead…
That’s not for us to know

But we can know our own mind.
And set our own course.

Then do our level best
with the very best of intentions
and the best information to hand
and more than enough faith in ourselves to do the rest.

It won’t be easy… heck… it hasn’t been so far has it?!

But who knows how much fun we might have ahead of us…
making the dots that will one day get connected!

CHANGING how and what we do today
Will change who and where we are tomorrow.
But the catch is we have to do it today
We can’t wait for a better date
because what must be done won’t wait another day!
© 2010 Jean Burman



{ 5 comments } Leave a comment

Subscribe For Email Updates

Become a regular here at the blog!
Enter your email address below:


Modi’s Girl

September 24, 2008 · 11 comments

Modi’s Girl

Watercolour 22″ x 30″

Copyright 2008 Jean Burman

I am writing this in the early hours of the morning from the Q1 tower on the Gold Coast. The sun gets up so early here as summer approaches… situated as it is near the eastern seabord’s most easterly point. So it’s impossible to sleep past 5.30am. By summer the sun will rise an hour earlier even than that. I would definitely need black out blinds if I should ever live here!

Last week was a busy one for me. The builders moved in to do some repairs on the house before the painters come sometime next week. Zoned out on Mozart and in and out between the hammering and crashing however… I was able to get some painting done. Sadly no writing though… but hey… who can have it all? LOL

Modi’s Girl was born out of a wish (on my part) to give Jeanne Hebuterne… Modigliani’s sweet wife and muse… the eyes Modigliani had omitted in his famous portrait “Jeanne Hebuterne avec un grand chapeau”.

A little arrogant perhaps… but heartfelt nonetheless. And I’m pleased I did it. I think Jeanne wouldn’t mind so much… and I feel now as though I know her (even if only just a little).

Jeanne was an artist in her own right who lived and painted in the shadow of Modigliani’s greatness. How great she herself may have ultimately become will never be known for Jeanne threw herself from an upstairs window… taking her life and the life of their unborn child… one day after Modigliani’s untimely death in 1920 from tuberculosis and substance abuse.

She died for love.

That kind of thing doesn’t happen all that often any more. Passion it would seem… is passe. Replacing it… a kind of generalised emotional malaise in the modern way of life.

I wanted to recapture some of the magic of that past… albeit in my own way… adding my own contemporary spin! Whether I was successful or not I shall leave to the critics whom I feel sure will be swift to have me answer for it! (grin)

Either way… it was fun… and I’m glad I did it. :-)


{ 11 comments } Leave a comment

Subscribe For Email Updates

Become a regular here at the blog!
Enter your email address below:


The heart of the matter

September 9, 2008 · 9 comments

A brand new day – daybreak over Dunk Island Aug 29

How amazing is the human heart!

Serious illness aside… it beats away relentlessly inside the chest across the course of our natural life.

It will keep on beating even though we might neglect it.

It will keep on beating even though we might ignore what it is telling us.

It will keep on beating even though it might ache.

And it will keep on beating long after it is broken.

It may skip a beat or two here and there… but that won’t make it stop.

It even beats without our knowing it… when we are fast asleep!

_____________________________________________

It may become hardened by cynicism.

Yet it can be warmed by a simple act of kindness.

It can be stirred by enthusiasm.

And moved by the inspiration of a single thought.

It can endure disappointment.

And can be strengthened by conviction.

It may suffer terrible loss… but that won’t make it stop.

It will keep on beating… year after year after year.

No matter what.

_____________________________________________

What man-made machine could ever do that?

_____________________________________________

Through triumph and tragedy… the strength of the human heart… and the resilience of the human spirit shines through.

Tears welled in my eyes…

when I read how 41 year old Amalia Filloy handed up her young daughter Maria to firefighter Francisco Martinez for safekeeping… as she herself lay dying in the wreckage of Spanair flight JK5022… less than three weeks ago. Maria’s 14 year old sister was already dead. How strong this mother’s heart that it would not stop beating until she had secured the safety of her only remaining child. My thoughts turned to my son who had recently been in the place where she and her family were travelling to. I was thinking… there but for the grace of God go I. I wonder if I could have been so strong?

And again the other night…

as I heard the story of how a young man’s parents bravely bid goodbye to their 20 year old son and (as was his wish)… made way for the donation of his organs to four grateful recipients. Doujon Zammit’s life was cut short whilst holidaying with his mates on the Greek island of Mykonos where he was senselessly set upon, bashed and killed by a nightclub bouncer. His parents indescribable pain at the loss of their beautiful son in a faraway country… was soothed by the gift of life that Doujon himself had insisted upon.

When his mother and father travelled to Greece to meet the young man who received their son’s strong beating heart… Doujon’s mother took the man’s hand in hers… and placed it over his new beating heart. All three wept for the senseless loss of life that had [paradoxically] brought new hope and the promise of a new life to another such young man… living in this far off distant land.

Doujon may have died that day… but his heart beats on. And the love that his parents shared with four total strangers will keep their son’s memory alive. Still… their own weary hearts will beat laboriously on… through grief and sadness and irreparable loss.

As a mother… I pray that my heart will never be tested in this cruel way. Hearts never mend… but they do go on. Even when we might not want them to. I have sometimes heard parents say when they have lost (or are losing) a child… that they wish it could have been them. My own parents said it. I know what they meant.

It seems far too easy to become caught up in the trivial day to day issues and struggles that besiege us all. Sometimes it’s good to remember what’s really important… and to give thanks for that. Life might not be perfect but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not meant to be. Besides… it’s all we have!

Our hearts will keep on beating (no matter what)… until our time is up. Until then… we might take a lesson from that heart of ours… and never ever give up.

May the beat go on!

Sixty Minutes Part 1

Sixty Minutes Part 2

{ 9 comments } Leave a comment

Subscribe For Email Updates

Become a regular here at the blog!
Enter your email address below: