This One Precious Life:
Women’s History Month
MIND BODY SOUL SPIRIT
Dear Friends,
With each newsletter, I write and rewrite as the week progresses. Today, I focus on strategies to maintain balance, especially when standing against strong gales of chaos.
Historian, Dr. Joanne B. Freeman, advises writing down our thoughts in this place and time. Historically, journals and diaries record what is really happening.
For those new to my newsletter, let me introduce myself. I am an artist, a retired schoolteacher of English and art, a wife, a mother, a traveler, an only child and a lover of beauty. My undergraduate majors were painting and British literature. I had a many decade crush on the British Isles.
With each newsletter, I record an auditory version; you can listen to my introductory episode of Encouragement Only by Janis Commentz .
In 2018, an unexpected travel adventure to the City of Light and the French countryside came my way, and I have never looked back. This experience opened many doors for me: painting opportunities, a new business, new friends, endless study about places and French culture, and the often-perplexing study of the French language. Currently, I am preparing for a return.
Mary Oliver’s poem, The Summer Day (which is at the end of this newsletter) came to mind recently, and it concludes with this question:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
I have been asking myself that a lot lately, and I ask YOU today. Wherever you are, whatever your status and condition, what do you plan to do with this precious life??
Who are the people and activities closest to you?
What beliefs sustain you?
Are there activities and travel that you have been putting off? Dreams deferred? Projects, skills, creative life forces yearning to flow through you?
Countries and cultures to learn more about? Novels to read? Recipes to try?
As our world drastically shifts, do I need to change my focus? Is the pursuit of peace of mind less important? Or more important? Definitely the latter.
A creative practice can improve our attitude each day. How does music fit into your life? Do you play an instrument? When I was a child, piano lessons gave me a hint of another realm. About eight years ago, I bought a keyboard and occasionally play a few very elementary tunes. My mother was a good pianist and owned a baby grand piano. My struggle to play reminds me of what a challenge learning a new skill can be. I empathize when teaching art workshops. Don’t give up!
I’m not as musical as my family members. However, I enjoy music to boost my mood and soothe my spirit. A good friend has lived her life optimistically, often imagining her life as a character in a musical. Our daughter enjoys film scores and movie soundtracks.
Upbeat music is soul-lifting! There may be a theme here; I’m from the City of Angels, and I have fallen in love with the City of Light.
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m sharing a musical glimpse into the cultures of both cities via two women who create musical history daily.
I am no expert on French music, and as I am learning French, I often Google the English lyrics to a song. I enjoy several French CDs left behind by my daughter from her high school days.
I was first introduced to Caroline de Maigret, model, music producer and author, by a favorite podcaster. Oliver Gee of The Earful Tower began his April 1, 2029 episode (and it was not an April Fool’s joke):
“This week on the podcast it’s Caroline de Maigret, the author of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are, the model, the music producer – and the ultimate Parisienne, if you ask me. I saw her walking down the street in central Paris and I stopped her to ask if she would like to be on my show. She said, ‘Yes, let’s do it right now.’”
You can listen to the The Earful Tower interview.
I began to follow de Maigret on Instagram where she daily introduces a new song (not all French), and I am reading her whimsical book co-written with three friends: How to be Parisian Wherever You Are, Random House, 2013. In 2019, the four followed up with Older, But Better, But Older: The Art of Growing Up.
When driving on a weekday morning in California, I often tune into KCRW, an NPR member station broadcasting from Santa Monica College, where DJ, presenter, voice artist, curator and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, Novena Carmel introduces a mix of new and old tunes. I love her mix of 70’s Funk and modern pop music. Carmel is the daughter of Sly Stone.
“Carmel’s family connection to Brazil along with her Japanese bilingual and bicultural schooling, further expanded her world-view…she moved to Los Angeles at 18, to attend UCLA. She has been a proud LA resident ever since with a deep appreciation for the city’s contributions to the global cultural landscape.” ~KCRW bio
Like the eclectic treasures and pieces of furniture inherited from my mother and uncle, my musical tastes are broad.
As you seek balance, nurture your mind, body, soul, and spirit. What do you plan to do with this precious life?
Gather with those close to you.
Meditate on the beliefs and faith that sustain you.
Tend to your physical needs and senses.
Listen to sources who speak truth.
Ponder the creative life forces yearning to flow through you. Grab your sketchbook, musical instrument or active wear. Color and make music boldly!
I don’t have clear-cut answers, but I know we are on this planet together. Reach out. Do not defer your dreams any longer!
Last year I applied to an artist residency in Provence and was accepted. I will share my adventures! My life in France provides new perspectives, fills me with beauty and joy, and introduces me to fascinating people. As always, I invite you to travel with me.
Here is a gallery of memorable women who inspire my world.
Who are some of the women who inspire your world? I’d love to hear!
Inspired by all of you,
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Follow me on Instagram and visit my website and at Etsy and Artsy
Hi Janis
I’ve admired your art and read you newsletter I see you will in Provence so will I with Plein air painters from Chateauneuf Grasse we paint for three days every year around Provence
I live in Palm Desert Bellevue and Chateauneuf Grasse maybe we can meet and I can tell you of a project that might interest you
Tony