My Tea Cup and I
"It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life." - JRR Tolkien
On Mourning the Loss of Holidays + Hoping for the Impossible
This year was shaping up to be a run one. That was our view just a few weeks ago. Just as news of COVID-19 was starting to increase in the states, J and I headed to a nearby town for a weekend away. We were in the middle of planning an early summer holiday in England...
Brief Thoughts on Leaf by Niggle
I decided to read Leaf by Niggle with no knowledge of it other than it being a short story by Tolkien that Stephen Colbert mentioned while giving audiences a rundown of just how big of a Tolkien fan he is. When Tea with Tolkien set the 30 Days in the Shire challenge,...
On Riding Out
Thoughts on The Week This week is certainly ending with a bang. A few weeks ago, I sat quite firmly amongst the people proclaiming “It’s not that bad.” Now, I sit squarely faced with the prospect of shortages and social distance. Where I am, things aren’t too bad yet....
January Update + February Goals
January is over! Could it have been any longer? I actually didn't feel the lull until this week when my body suddenly decided it was just done. After a nap on Wednesday and a near nap on Thursday, I knew something was definitely up. Thankfully, today has turned out...
Celebrating the Season of Light
I’m one of those people who gets pretty excited to take down the Christmas decorations because, despite how much I adore them, I love that fresh, clean slate. This year, however, I decided to leave a few bits and bobs up - mostly, the dried oranges, evergreen boughs,...
Visualizing My Year
You may have already seen my post about my Rule of Life and how I decided to use this as a framework for 2020 (and beyond!) rather than choosing a resolution or word of the year. I'm still excited about my rule and have been referring back to it regularly. BUT I've...
Developing a Rule of Life + 2020 Monthly Challenges
The time for resolutions to be made and words to be chosen is here. We're filled with grand dreams of what we want this next year to mean for us. Some people scoff at these practices, realizing how often they are futile, being pushed to the side as soon as the...
Advent and JRR Tolkien | Joy and Peace
We've made it through the darkness. We've maintained hope that light will emerge, that good will overcome. We're ready to celebrate. Tolkien's tale of Middle Earth is like a traditional epic in that it follows a story of good versus evil where good comes out on top in...
Advent and JRR Tolkien | Hope and Faith
Last week, I mused over themes of darkness and light in Tolkien's works, linking them to the prevailing theme of light overcoming darkness that we recognize during Advent. This week, I move to the two themes represented by weeks one and two of the traditional Advent...