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CKwasniewski
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Colleen,
I think that the convenience and speed issue is one of the major differences. With that slowed-down life comes a sense of belonging to a place, whether its a big city like Vienna or a small farming town. And this shows up in how people (in Austria at least) care for their homes--always window boxes full of begonias or petunias, the city streets--it wd be shocking to see litter-- and their public and private gardens--they give awards for the best designs.
We have very little of that sense of place here in the US (Southerners have it more than the rest of us though!), because we are so mobile and families are split up so much. Why should I care about this place if I'm likely to be moving?
Another thing about convenience is that it leads to utilitarian architecture--only useful, convenient, not beautiful, not decorated...both in public buildings and in homes...
just my .o2
CK
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Elizabeth
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I just wanted to chime in briefly and tell you all how much I'm enjoying listening to your conversation. I'm nursing a nasty case of mastitis this week and don't feel much like keyboarding, but oh, you've given me so much to think about! keep talking; you're way more interesting than Fox News Channel.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Alice C
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CKwasniewski wrote:
| With that slowed-down life comes a sense of belonging to a place, whether its a big city like Vienna or a small farming town. And this shows up in how people (in Austria at least) care for their homes--always window boxes full of begonias or petunias |
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That's it! That's exactly it. I am SO needing a slower pace right now. How do they do it? Do they simply not busy themselves with the unnecessary?
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~ Alice C
a number of things
gardens of grace
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CKwasniewski
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How do they do it?
here are some thoughts off the top of my head...
Well, there is a lot more walking and bike riding, bec towns are on a small scale. This is a BIG difference! I could walk to the grocery store there... (I still do, but it takes a lot longer!)
Shops including grocery stores are not open on Sundays, and many close on Saturday afternoon or for the day altogether. They close at 6 and take a 1-2 hr. lunch period. And lots take another day or afternoon off too!
People have a lot more vacation time. Generally, I think they are not possessed by the idea of making money! 
Long Sunday brunches, or coffee and pastries in cafes with a friend...
In Austria and Italy, the many Catholic feast days are public holidays! I think this makes a big difference even if it is only a sort of "residual Catholicism."
There is normally stronger sense of family ties...and you much spend time eating and talking together with friends and family. It's not just fueling up!
There are some others here who could give their ideas. Mary G? Kathryn UK?
ck
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Mary G
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I think part of it is the history -- both their own internal history (that is, the wars and occupation by others) as well as the LENGTH of their history, the sheer number of years.
Europeans (especially Austrians and others more toward the East) tend to be a fairly homogeneous group -- not like our melting pot -- so their culture has been developed over centuries. We have that a BIT here in the States with some of the ethnic groups who dominate an area and have held on to their traditions, their culture, their beauty.
Another part, I think, is the lack of excess funds over there -- most folks buy things to last! We bought a stroller while we were there that would have held JP till he was 5 or older! Toys are quality and clothes are beautiful. This seemed/seems to be changing a bit with the influx of cheap imports from the East (Asia as well as Eastern Europe).
Their pace is remarkable -- evening walks, bike rides, long lunch breaks as CK mentioned -- really slow things down nicely. Even their vacations -- which can be a month or longer -- tend to be very relaxed and not buzzing around trying to see everything. We did 2 weeks in a resort town in Austria -- where all those around us were Austrians enjoying the beautiful weather, scenery and outdoor activities. In addition, other than in the big tourist towns (Salzburg, Vienna), Austrians don't do "tourism" like we do it here. They take bike-riding vacations along the Danube; hiking in the mountains; visiting the lake. And often these far flung places don't have those tacky little tourist shops with odd souvenirs or expensive attraction fees.
All this goes to their culture of frugality, family and fitness -- it's just the way they are. Due to the age of their culture, they have gorgeous museums, opera houses and concert halls -- that are ANCIENT. The Catholicism is so in-bred that part of the state taxes go to support and keep the Churches in amazing condition.
That all said, I think we can engender some of that culture here (yes, CK, EVEN in Wyoming) just by how we live in our homes ... surrounding our environment with lovely pictures/works of art (we also have most radios tuned to the classic station so that at 7 a.m., all music is classical; we then play the radio or CDs throughout the day), taking it slow with everything (a bit more concern over the process rather than just worrying about the product), focusing on embracing beauty in toys/books/activities rather than buying into the American ideals of Disney, Mattel, etc.
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chicken lady
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CKwasniewski wrote:
In Austria and Italy, the many Catholic feast days are public holidays!
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This is one of the reasons we are starting our own business. We want to live a Catholic culture, it has to begin one family at a time, one decision at a time. I think it very exciting, it is as if we are making our own culture and inviting other families to join us.
For dinner tonight we had a family join us for Lamb and good old fashion Irish music and dancing. The simple beauty and culture is priceless! Our guest we delighted and it was so simple to do. Our faith is so rich in beauty and culture, just embracing it enriches your life very quickly.
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missionfamily
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I think the real nugget of truth here is that because we are not necessarily surrounded by the beauty of history, or nature, or culture, a life of beauty has to be an intentional pursuit, a quest to fill our homes and our hearts with a few carefully chosen beautiful things rather than a clutter of whatever...to fill our schooling with a few noble ideas rather than a lot of twaddle, to cook with a few gourmet ingredients rather than have two freezers full of boxed entrees.
Have you ever seen the way a well-trained sommelier fills a wine glass? It is only about 1/4 filled. Because fine wine is something to be savored, not gulped down greedily. What about the size of the porions at a really fine restaurant? There is an intentional flow to the meal, with a theme, and an eye for balance. And each course provides just enough to satisfy.
I want my family's life to be a seven course tasting of the finest things I can offer them, not a quick gorge at the ALL-U-CAN-EAT buffet.
I want them to learn to appreciate and wonder at simple beauty and fine pleasures. I want the spiritual theme of my home to be reflection and recollection.
OOPs....I think I just blogged on the boards  ! Oh well, I'll go think out loud at my blog later today. For now, the Blessed Mother and Daddy's homecoming await!
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Colleen
dh Greg
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Footprints on the Fridge
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CKwasniewski
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Mary G. I don't want you to think I'm complaining about WY. (am I?) I love the Rocky Mountain country, its HOME. BUT I primarily know them as a place of natural beauty where the people DO have a culture of their own... its just one I'm not very interested in (rodeos, square dancing, Native American paraphrenalia, etc.).(No offense to anyone for whom this is desirable.)
I think you can see why I'd miss the east coast and European culture...
The reason that Wyoming Catholic College is starting up--why we are here--is to do just what Colleen said:
" a life of beauty has to be an intentional pursuit, a quest to fill our homes and our hearts with a few carefully chosen beautiful things rather than a clutter of whatever...to fill our schooling with a few noble ideas rather than a lot of twaddle"
We have to do the same in our family, and our Catholic community.
sorry about this if it's irrelevant!
CK
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Mary G
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CKwasniewski wrote:
The reason that Wyoming Catholic College is starting up--why we are here--is to do just what Colleen said:
" a life of beauty has to be an intentional pursuit, a quest to fill our homes and our hearts with a few carefully chosen beautiful things rather than a clutter of whatever...to fill our schooling with a few noble ideas rather than a lot of twaddle"
We have to do the same in our family, and our Catholic community.
sorry about this if it's irrelevant!
CK
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It's not at ALL irrelevant, but I think right on! I SO WISH WCC had been around when I was looking at colleges! I would go there in a heartbeat!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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CKwasniewski
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Mary G,
I hope we'll see one of your young'uns out here one of these days as a student!
Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled programming!
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CKwasniewski
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Okay, I'd like to get this discussion going again. I have gotten a nasty cold so this will be short.
As I said, I'm doing a little research into the Japanese tea ceremony. It is certainly about slowing down, appreciating the moment and keeping things spare for the sake of appreciating each one.
Two things have come out of this which seemed relevant to our discussion here:
1. The aesthetic of having tea with only beautiful pots and cups changed over time.... It changed into having the exquisite along with the ordinary. The contrast jarring the senses, and giving one a new appreciation even of the ordinary.
This seems so relevant to our lives with children. We can go from the silence a sublime CGS presentation to peanut butter and jelly on the floor in 5 minutes!
But how do I then react???!
2. The host prepares maybe for days in advance, practices each move of the hands--setting the fire, pouring the water etc. and is totally PRESENT to each element of the ceremony, each person. It is an extreme exercise in hospitality....
Finally, it's not just about HAVING beauty, its also about appreciating it, savoring it, each aspect of smell, taste, color, feel, and sound. In this way, it goes deeply into your soul.
Okay, have to go deal with some squealing kidlins.
blessings
ck
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missionfamily
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have a baby with a cold so not much time, but i don't this conversation to end yet....cay, where are you? you're always so good at making the discussion flow....
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Colleen
dh Greg
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SeaStar
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Once I heard someone criticizing the amount of money spent on churches (especially Catholic churches, ie the Vatican) when so many people are hungry and go without basic needs. The response was simply: "people need beautiful places to go where their souls can be nourished". This thought has really stuck with me- how true. I really understood this difference more when we attended mass in a parish that used a school cafeteria for awhile. The difference in attitude and atmosphere was amazing.
I long to have a "church" house- beautiful but welcoming, peaceful and nourishing.... not a "cafeteria" house, which will do in a pinch, but really isn't a place you want to spend a lot of time.
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Cay Gibson
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Colleen,
My computer time since school began has come to an record freeze. When I started this thread I was very inspired by your CM talk and very committed to blending all the CM beauty into our MODG-laced curriculum.
I felt pretty bad this morning (headache/dentist) but the day has ended well and I have not taken my eyes off my resolve.
The biggest area of this resolve is that during school time I am with the children. If they're drawing, I'm drawing. If they're doing a nature scavenger hunt (as Chels instituted yesterday), so am I. If they are listening to the Latin tape, I am fully present. If they're watching the math DVD, I am too.
There is no "sneaking" off to the computer to "peek" inside of your homeblogs or the 4Real windows.
And the days are going beautifully. And the children are happy. They're motivated. We end our days full...full of new learning, new discoveries, new insight, new life. 
Not sure what next week will bring but today it's working just fine. 
I have so many thoughts on this thread that have been revealed to me this past week. And I so want to share them. But I'm basking in the "realness" of the moment and hoping for a little time-gap when I can put my thoughts down. Right now my thoughts are too jumbled up to commit to writing.
But I am loving reading all your thoughts during my short lunch break. I don't want the conversation to end either because there is still so much to be said. And it seems you are all doing "beauty-ful" job of watering the seeds.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Mary G
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Cay Gibson wrote:
The biggest area of this resolve is that during school time I am with the children. If they're drawing, I'm drawing. If they're doing a nature scavenger hunt (as Chels instituted yesterday), so am I. If they are listening to the Latin tape, I am fully present. If they're watching the math DVD, I am too.
There is no "sneaking" off to the computer to "peek" inside of your homeblogs or the 4Real windows.
And the days are going beautifully. And the children are happy. They're motivated. We end our days full...full of new learning, new discoveries, new insight, new life.
Not sure what next week will bring but today it's working just fine.
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THAT's EXACTLY what I'm doing and so far this week it's worked GREAT. Since I've taken the computer out of their realm for a while, I didn't think it was fair for me to "peak" ... so I'm for,with and by them 7-4 p.m. each day and then we start making dinner. And I think this truly has changed the whole tenor of the day!
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MaryG
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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jugglingpaynes
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There is so much here. I want to look at it leisurely when I have more time, but I also wanted to add to it.
Gardening is where I find my greatest joy in art. Every year I try to add more beauty to my yard. And then it fills with beautiful birds and butterflies to complete the scene. My oldest dd's favorite book was Linnea in Monet's Garden. We devour books in Mike Venezia's Greatest Artists collection, but we have a soft place for Impressionism and it's soft views of the natural world. The stars, the clouds, rain, all of it is art to us. I try to encourage them to find beauty in unlikely places. Instead of fearing that insect that just landed next to them, they examine its patterns and colors. They find beauty in the ugliest of animals. God is the greatest Artist after all. We lowly artist merely try to recreate his masterwork. I think an appreciation of life helps us to better appreciate the beauty of art.
My children have always been surrounded by art since it is one of my interests. My daughter promises to be a better artist than I am. My son was not as adept with a pencil, but he found artistic interest in photography and 3 dimensional art. He started with Legos and now he likes using modeling clay. My youngest is already working through reams of paper.
I hope this didn't sound to convoluted. I have powerful thoughts about this but not so much the eloquence to express it.
Peace and Laughter,
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Cristina
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Home Spun Juggling
Comics, Coffee and Catches
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PDyer
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I am making a real effort this year to make time and space for the children to create art. I am one of those who are guilty of pushing art to the back burner for years now. |
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Guilty here too. Over the summer I've been pondering our deep thirst for beauty in our daily life. After listening to all the speakers at the conference, I was firm in my resolve: more beauty, more joy.
We have made a new beginning and I am SO excited!
You have to understand that drawing, painting, etc. has been a major black hole for my son for years. I've heard, "I can't do it!" and seen more tears in this subject than any other. So I put it off. But today I pulled out the program and supplies I purchased this summer. We started out on the couch, reading the lesson, and then we all sat down at the kitchen table and drew. Together.
After a couple of false starts and with some enthusiastic coaching, my son drew the face of our cat and is very pleased with the results.
Instead of starting our school year with math, we have started with drawing and music appreciation. It's a new day!
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Patty
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Life at Home
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marihalojen
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This morning I pondered on my blog how the things that we get excited about
Art Studies
Nature Studies
Science Experiments
Plans for Handwork and Crafts
Liturgical Teas
Field Trips
were the first things this year to end up chopped off our plans.  Due to this thread and the wisdom contained herein, I was able to do some deep thinking, some reminiscing with Marianna and we came full circle, right back to where we were happiest in our schooling - CM Inspired.
But in my deep thinking phase I recalled when the Rule of 6 Carnival was going about last year, I never formulated my Rule of 6 then so I took a stab at it today and what do you know? Beauty made it on the list, surprise, surprise! I couldn't think of a more perfect word to encompass all the music, art, handcrafts, nature studies and well, Loveliness!  I want to introduce back into our lives this year.
So my Rule of 6, the Faith and Beauty edition, looks like this:
Faith
Arithmetic
Reading
Writing
Exercise
Beauty
It was a grand exercise, even if I am nearly a year late!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Elizabeth
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Jennifer,
I tried to leave a message on your blog but my computer wouldn't cooperate. I tweaked my rule earlier in the summer and then blogged it here. I played around with using it to report and record at my "Daily notes" blog, but then I abandoned that in favor of summer vacation. Still, I have been able to keep my new rule in my mind and to look at my days through that lens. I like your "Farweb"--it's simple enough to really use.
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Kelly
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When I read Cay's question about 'what do you do to inspire beauty' in your home, my gut response was, sadly, "Too stressed! Too busy! No time for this now!" which served as a huge slap in the face to me that this MUST change. Thanks, all, for the inspiring reminders to constantly strive to reclaim beauty in our homes and lives.
We, too, live in an out-of-the-way area (well, maybe not so remote as WY, CK-I lived in Jackson Hole for a bit and feel your cultural-withdrawal pains )(And JH at least has the wildlife art museum and Cody art museum not too far away!) Anyway, here in rural North Florida, I find myself really yearning for great art-so I ALWAYS make a point of including art museums in our trips, even if it means having to drive out of the way a bit. To that end, I've discovered that we do best to visit the art museums first when we, say, arrive in WDC, rather than AFTER the Smithsonian (for example), because at the beginning everyone is alert and raring to push onto what they want to see next...as opposed to after the funsies when everyone is exhausted, cranky and totally uninterested in the art museum. This strategy has worked well for us and provides Mom with her much needed Culture Fix.
We always make a point to see Shakespeare plays wherever we go, planning our travel itineraries accordingly--I find I need aural beauty, spoken beauty, as well as visual. Even my wiggly 5 year old has been to several Shakespeare plays and can enjoy them. On our road-trips, we've managed to find---and attend--- Shakespeare festivals all over the US.
Flowers and tablecloths. I remember reading once that LBJ grew up in very poor circumstances, yet his mother ALWAYS managed to have flowers in a vase and a tablecloth---not oil cloth, as was the depression-era fashion---but a REAL tablecloth on the table. So I always have flowers-even if they're just little daisies the kids pick outside that we put in a vase by the kitchen Madonna, and frequently use tablecloths. Also (on the subject of 'how-do-they-do-it-in-Europe') I've noticed that that in Europe, most people use tablecloths---so having and using a selection of lovely tablecloths is one of the paltry ways I strive to achieve beauty in the home. It's been especially fun to find nice tablecloths when we travel, ones we can use and reminisce-fondly over at the same time. I often try to color coordinate to the liturgical feast day, too-blue tablecloths for Marian feast days, red for Martyrs, etc.
The family silver. I don't know about you all, but here in the south, it's a custom to receive silver when you get married (probably the ONLY time we get it!). The second custom is to put it away and never use it-or only use it at Thanksgiving. In defiance of this, I use my very small assortment of silver every single day, including old pieces that belonged to my grandmother and great-grandmother. The same goes for china. We use our "fancy stuff" every day. What's the point of having it if it never gets used? Not to say that we don't use our share of environmentally-insensitive and aesthetically-injurious paper plates, but at least there's SOME balance!
Opera on Sundays. I once knew a fellow who was a POW in Germany during WWII. He told me that what he missed most during that time was Opera music on Sunday-his family always put on the opera on Sunday. Somehow this touched me---maybe because it takes a little more effort to listen to opera, as opposed to easy listening music or even familiar Classical---but now I try to remember to play Opera on Sundays. We also try to get to one opera a year---a friend of mine once pointed out that opera is all the arts at once: beautiful costumes,sets, music, poetry-all together. That has stuck with me, too. So over the complaints of the gang, I strive to accomplish this, even if it's just once a year, and a small opera at that.
Oops, dinner (nice china and all) calls, gotta run.
Thanks again for starting this great discussion and inspiring me to renewed vigor in this department.
Kelly in FL
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Nurturing Beauty
