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Happy November!


I just love this time of year. As much as I miss the daylight at the end of the day, I enjoy turning the clocks back and getting on "fall" time. As nature turns inward, we find clues about how to live the shortened, cooler days. The season signals rest and renewal, reminding us to secure our nests for the winter, and nurture the hearth and the heart.
Ironically, the frenzy of "the holidays" intersects our lives at the time we need to nurture our lives and get more rest. Already, when venturing through Green Hills, I notice the pace and hype revved up to warp speed, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.


It didn't use to be this way - when I was a child, the season of Christmas didn't start until the first Sunday of Advent. Now we have Christmas displays going up around Halloween.


What is the answer? In the words of Anne Morrow Lindberg, who wrote about life balance in her classic Gift from the Sea, there is no easy answer, no single answer. But as she found clues in the shells she picked up on her seaside retreat, we find clues by watching nature prepare to rest. The trees relinquish their leaves, as the sap returns to the roots. Animals go into hibernation. Nature reminds us not to sweat the small stuff, to cut back on that list of things to do, simplify the holiday season, and nestle into our homes, families and honor the soul.

 

How can you simplify your life and better enjoy this season of rest?

 

 


 


or pick it up at these local retailers:
 

Davis Kidd Booksellers

at the Green Hills Mall

 

Borders Bookstores

All Nashville area locations:

West End, Brentwood and Coolsprings 

 

St. Mary's Bookstore

on West End Avenue

 

Belle Meade Drugstore

White Bridge Road, across from Target

 

Logos Bookstore

in Green Hills

 

The Shoppe for Simple Pleasures

810 NW Broad St. in Murfreesboro

 

Tennessee Memories

Bandywood Plaza

 

The Produce Place

on Murphy Road

 

Schermerhorn Gift Shop
Schermerhorn Symphony Center

 

Lillie Belle's

132 Third Ave. South in Franklin


The Garden Path
117-B 3rd Ave. North in Franklin

Harmony Home
236 Second Ave. South in Franklin

 

American Artisan

Stanford Square, 4231 Harding Rd.

 

 
Live: Ruth and the Acoustic Trio



Davis Kidd Booksellers
at the Green Hills Mall, Nashville
 Friday, November 16th
7:00 - 9:00pm
  The Trio welcomes Gary Smith on Bass!
  Come on out and get a jump on your
holiday shopping before the rush hits!
 
St. Mary's Bookstore
 1909 West End Ave., Nashville
Saturday, November 17th
11:00am - 12:30pm
The St. Mary's Holiday Open House is a
great time to do some Christmas shopping
while enjoying some refreshments
and best of all, Ruth's Christmas music.
 
 
 
Looking ahead to December...
 
 
The Shoppe for Simple Pleasures
 810 NW Broad Street, Murfreesboro
Saturday, December 1st
 1:30 - 4:00pm
  The Shoppe for Simple Pleasures is a hidden gem,
packed with beautiful things for the home and body.
Be sure to drop by if you are in the area!
 
 
"A Dickens Dinner"
 at Lillie Belle's of Franklin
132 3rd Ave. South, Franklin
Friday, December 13th seatings at 6:00pm & 8:00pm
Saturday, December 14th seatings at 6:30pm & 8:30pm
 
Enjoy dinner by candlelight at the most charming
establishment in Historic Franklin!
 
$75 per person for dinner with music provided by
Ruth and the Acoustic Trio
with special guest, Gary Smith on bass
Space is limited! For reservations, call (615) 790-2300

 
Davis Kidd Booksellers
at the Green Hills Mall, Nashville
 Friday, December 14th
7:00 - 9:00pm

 
 
 
*****
Are you interested in booking Ruth and The Acoustic Trio for your private event?  
Please contact us at info@ruthmcginnis.com

 

**** 

Ruth's Acoustic Trio is

Karin Simmons - Keyboards;

John Pell - Guitar;

Dennis Solee - All things wind!
 


The Music Of Life:

Reflections on the Unfolding Life

 

A few weeks ago, I spoke to a group about the conundrum of being human and designed for joy, but challenged with the uncertainties and imperfections of living in this flawed world. We experience the full spectrum of the beautiful to the horrible in the course of a lifetime - and we would like to cherry pick the good stuff, but we can't. In this sense, our entire human walk is the quintessential "unsolvable problem" - how do we live with joy and resilience, pursue the life of our dreams (a desire deeply encoded in our DNA), while surrounded by the uncertainty and fear of an imperfect world?

If I've learned anything over the last year, it is that life inevitably unfolds in ways we choose and ways we would not. Sustaining a joyful view of life when confronted with the reality of the unknown and the uncontrollable, feels like an impossible task. It runs contrary to everything I was raised to believe, and certainly flies in the face of our perfection addicted culture. I find myself in a clumsy process of learning to live life as it unfolds.

For a recovering perfectionist with teeny tiny control and anxiety issues, this is the work of a lifetime. But I have found some relief in the discipline of sitting quietly with the day in front of me, for twenty to thirty minutes each morning. I bring in the dogs, quiet the house, and sit with a CD called "More Hope", which combines simple instrumental music with poetically arranged Scripture selections read by the artist, David Teems. The combination of music, which I love, and a reassuring voice speaking the wisdom of God, has helped me feel some peacefulness with the unknown.

As a dear friend recently reminded me, the soul wants to find both the experience of the self and the experience of the self with God, and this is most likely to come in the midst of the chaos that happens between our well-laid plans and reality. As I navigate this foreign road, I am inclined to believe that the way of the unfolding life includes the practice of being still. In the still, quiet moments, with music, a silent walk in the woods, or a journal in hand, we can begin to know who we really are.




Ruth McGinnis Productions • info@ruthmcginnis.comwww.ruthmcginnis.com
5123 Virginia Way | Brentwood | TN | 37027



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