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Mar. 17th, 2006 08:13 pmTagged by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ariellejulianna
Name five things you like most (with a brief commentary).
1. Incense. I love incense. There was a time in my life when I burned incense constantly in my home, but since becoming Orthodox incense has become a part of my worship experience and there is a specific time and place for it. Incense has become synonymous with prayer for me. And now it evokes such strong images and feelings that I often tear up when I catch an odd wiff here and there...on clothes I wore to church when I'm doing laundry, walking past our icon corner. Smells are intense emotional triggers for me and unusual incense burned in certain places will evoke those places for me so strongly, I will feel confused for a moment. The incense the nuns make for themselves and burn at the Hogar is one that does that to me. I bought some from them and eventually had to stop using it at home because it made me weep.
2. Reading. To my children, to myself, books, magazines, journals, online...the backs of cereal boxes...I read almost like breathing. And reading makes me feel excited because it is a way for me to constantly learn. It makes me feel more alive. Reading brought me to the Orthodox Church...I can't imagine that I would have discovered all that I've discovered without being an avid reader. Not that others can't come different ways...but reading is for me the pathway to discovering just about anything.
3. Mountains. When I was in better shape, I loved to hike. I still love it but do not have the stamina I used to have. I'm working on that. But the few times in my life when I've vacationed or lived near mountains I felt a constant sense of expectation and excitement and...as paradoxical as it sounds...peace. Mountains bring to mind the awe-inspiring grandeur of creation...the hugeness of God...beauty that staggers the mind. I feel healthier at higher altitudes, more energetic and optimistic.
4. My family. I love to spend time with family...my children, my husband, my parents and sisters and nieces and nephews. I love being with them. I love cuddling and talking and playing games with them. I prefer time spent with family to just about any other activity. I think I could forego all other forms of socializing but my with my family (not that I'm doing that.) I am so grateful for the people that I have been surrounded with in my life..through choice or genetics. I feel...well..."rich in love" when I'm with family.
5. Singing. I sing all day long everyday. I do not sing well, but I love to sing. I don't think I could live without singing. I sing about whatever is going on at any time, I sing about what I'm feeling and thinking, I sing to worship God, I sing to cheer myself and my children up. If you lived in my house you might think you were in some cheesy Rogers and Hammerstein musical, but with really horrible singers. Heh.
ariellejuliannaName five things you like most (with a brief commentary).
1. Incense. I love incense. There was a time in my life when I burned incense constantly in my home, but since becoming Orthodox incense has become a part of my worship experience and there is a specific time and place for it. Incense has become synonymous with prayer for me. And now it evokes such strong images and feelings that I often tear up when I catch an odd wiff here and there...on clothes I wore to church when I'm doing laundry, walking past our icon corner. Smells are intense emotional triggers for me and unusual incense burned in certain places will evoke those places for me so strongly, I will feel confused for a moment. The incense the nuns make for themselves and burn at the Hogar is one that does that to me. I bought some from them and eventually had to stop using it at home because it made me weep.
2. Reading. To my children, to myself, books, magazines, journals, online...the backs of cereal boxes...I read almost like breathing. And reading makes me feel excited because it is a way for me to constantly learn. It makes me feel more alive. Reading brought me to the Orthodox Church...I can't imagine that I would have discovered all that I've discovered without being an avid reader. Not that others can't come different ways...but reading is for me the pathway to discovering just about anything.
3. Mountains. When I was in better shape, I loved to hike. I still love it but do not have the stamina I used to have. I'm working on that. But the few times in my life when I've vacationed or lived near mountains I felt a constant sense of expectation and excitement and...as paradoxical as it sounds...peace. Mountains bring to mind the awe-inspiring grandeur of creation...the hugeness of God...beauty that staggers the mind. I feel healthier at higher altitudes, more energetic and optimistic.
4. My family. I love to spend time with family...my children, my husband, my parents and sisters and nieces and nephews. I love being with them. I love cuddling and talking and playing games with them. I prefer time spent with family to just about any other activity. I think I could forego all other forms of socializing but my with my family (not that I'm doing that.) I am so grateful for the people that I have been surrounded with in my life..through choice or genetics. I feel...well..."rich in love" when I'm with family.
5. Singing. I sing all day long everyday. I do not sing well, but I love to sing. I don't think I could live without singing. I sing about whatever is going on at any time, I sing about what I'm feeling and thinking, I sing to worship God, I sing to cheer myself and my children up. If you lived in my house you might think you were in some cheesy Rogers and Hammerstein musical, but with really horrible singers. Heh.
