Anchorite Life

I remember learning in college about Julian of Norwich. She was an extremely pious woman who, after a near-death experience, decided to "anchor" herself to the church, meaning there was built a very small cell onto the side of the church and she lived there. Without a door and only two windows, one into the church and one out to the outside world, she lived there for the rest of her life. She was not the only Anchorite, she was just the most notable because she wrote a book.

Lately, with all the craziness, I've wondered whether I could handle that. Sitting alone, day after day, reading, writing, maybe some small crafts...that sounds pretty nice. I'm not pious enough to do it for religious reasons, and I would have to have a cell with considerably better amenities. Like a bathroom. And air conditioning. Internet?

maybe not. Quiet, calm, stillness. pretty sweet. That's all I need.

Anyway, here is the Wikipedia paragraph that I copied to remember everything, enjoy.

• The anchoritic life became widespread during the early and high Middle Ages. Examples of the dwellings of anchorites and anchoresses survive. They tended to be a simple cell (also called "anchorhold"), built against one of the walls of the local village church.^[3] In the Germanic lands from at least the tenth century it was customary for the bishop to say the office of the dead as the anchorite entered her cell, to signify the anchorite's death to the world and rebirth to a spiritual life of solitary communion with God and the angels. Sometimes, if the anchorite was walled up inside the cell, the bishop would put his seal upon the wall to stamp it with his authority. But some anchorites freely moved between their cell and the adjoining church. ^[4]
• Hearing Mass and receiving Holy Communion was possible through a small, shuttered window in the common wall facing the sanctuary, called a "hagioscope" or "squint". There was also a small window facing the outside world, through which the inhabitant would receive food and other necessities and, in turn, could provide spiritual advice and counsel to visitors, as the anchorites gained a reputation forwisdom. ^[5]
• Anchorites were supposed to remain in their cell in all eventualities. Some were even burned in their cells, which they refused to leave even when pirates or other attackers were looting and burning their towns. ^[6] They ate frugal meals, and spent their days both in contemplative prayer and interceding on behalf of others. Anchorite hymns, such as Ignus Lux Sanctum, praising the sanctity of light in all its forms were the inspiration for Athanasius Kircher's research on optics and magnetism. Their bodily waste was managed by means of a chamber pot.^[7] An idea of their daily routine can be gleaned from an anchoritic Rule known as Ancrene Wisse.^{[citation needed]}
• One very well known medieval anchoress is Julian of Norwich whose writings have left a lasting impression on Christian spirituality.^{[citation needed]} All Saints' Church in King's Lynn, Norfolk, still has its original 12th century Anchorhold, intact and still very much in use during the daily worship of the church.^[8]

Stress

I don't think I know how to deal with stress.
I think stress is not having control over things that you think you should. But I typically look at a situation, if I can do anything about it, I try to do something. If there is nothing I can do about it, I just don't. I continue along in life until I see something I can do to improve or end the situation. Otherwise, life as usual, you know? My body however, is not quite as in sync with my brain. I get a skin irritation whenever my body senses stress (it's been almost continual since I graduated from high school). This is what makes me think I don't know how to deal with stress. Like, what is a stress reliever? I always figured a stress reliever was like, not procrastinating or finishing projects on time. But that is my active "I can do something about this situation" stress reliever. What about when there is nothing that can be done? How can I convince my body that it just needs to chill out?

For example: I am moving across the country starting like, tomorrow. Ben is already out there working. Companies have been paid to do all the packing and moving and car-moving for us. So what am I supposed to do? Compound that with a very fevery, teething baby and a 3 year old who can't seem to find the toilet or cook her own food. There is a lot of crying going on over here.
My body has moved beyond a little itchiness, when that little warning did nothing to affect me, my body pulled out some bigger guns. Now I am having intense allergic reactions to - it seems - everything. I took an allergy pill finally last night, now my lungs and throat are congested too. Plus the fogginess from the drugs. I am at a loss.
I know a lot of people have the same kind of thing, I have a friend who swears her tongue goes numb when she's stressed out.
I am practical to a fault, thus if I can't foresee the benefit to something, I'm sure it won't help, and am generally unwilling to attempt it. I need active problem solving. Someone to tell me to "clean this" and "move that" would be great, but I can't figure those out for myself either. It's a good thing I married a type A guy who can take charge of a situation. I just sit and wait to be given instruction.

In any case I can take comfort in the fact that a month from now this will all hopefully be a distant memory.

Just a little bit of earth

Dear Birds,
My yard is basically a banquet of slugs, spiders, potato bugs and centipedes. What's holding you up? Start cleaning this place up. I won't hurt you.
Signed,
Smorgasbord

Dear Slugs,
Why don't you try eating the weeds you are colonizing under instead of my tender little flowers?
Signed,
Disappointed

Dear Ants,
Just because I pull up the weeds and dirt in and around your home I am not inviting you to climb up my legs. Please get off my feet.
Signed,
Annoyed and itchy

Dear Weeds,
Please stop growing.
Signed,
Exhausted

Dear Garbage Can
You are doing a great job holding all these weeds in, keep it up. And if you happen to clear up a little space before Thursday, that would be great also.
Signed,
Just a few more days

The Eyelash

Once upon a time I told Anna I couldn't help her wash her hands because I had an eyelash in my eye. Next thing I knew she was singing this song. I couldn't get it on video at that second because - well, I had an eyelash in my eye. But I sat her down right away and got it on video to show the world.

Backstory: This is a song from one of the hippy records my parents had that we listened to all the time. It's from Henry Gibson and the Grass Menagerie, the lyrics are as follows:

The Eyelash

The eyelash is a friend to man, 

It lives to serve the eye.

It fights the dirt and dust and grime

And keeps the eyeball dry.

Flick Flick, Flick Flick

It's busy as a bee.

Flick Flick, Flick Flick

It's helpin' you and me.

Then Henry Gibson ends it by saying, "That was an original folk song that I wrote originally, for my folks."

This Girl.

Here are a few updates on Anna's rapidly expanding brain.

• Where she used to have trouble with question words, i.e. mixing up "who" and "what" and "where", she now has "after" and "before" confused. "We can go before I put my shoes on" "I will go swing after we go inside"
• She is trying hard to understand time and dates. Yesterday and Tomorrow mean very little to her. Same with Day, Month, Year. We used to categorize things as "Last day" or "Next day" but really that could mean any time in the past or future. Now she adds any measurement of time "5 years ago we went to the zoo" It really just means 'sometime in the past'. It's interesting to see her try to incorporate these things correctly.
• She is intensely interested in family relations. It is rare that we go a day without discussing who is married to whom or who my or ben's brothers and sisters are. Marriage, especially, is extremely interesting to her. She asks us about weddings and honeymoons and all that quite often. Still, I took her to a friends reception a few weeks ago but I don't think she understood the connection somehow.
• She has recently become quite skeptical about Eliza's name. Today she asked me why we named her Eliza. Sometimes if you ask her about her baby sister she will say "my mom calls her Eliza". When pressed she states that she prefers the name "Ellie", which is fine with me, but she never actually calls her that.
•  She likes to build houses and nests with pillows (but who doesn't?).
• She woke me up this morning demanding that I go downstairs and do my exercises. She's my own little personal trainer and if I don't want to do it, she has tantrums. I guess it's part of our morning routine. After I work out, she gets to watch a show. But that doesn't mean that if I don't work out, she doesn't get to watch a show anyway.
• We made Jell-o today at her request. She was enthralled, and even more so when we ate it at dinner. She loved the Jell-o

And here's a picture of Eliza.