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The Power of Stillness

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Writing Thoughts

I am an introvert. I’m very comfortable with people and enjoy my time with people, so this surprises those who know me, but it’s true.

Interactions with others, though very fun, do not energize me like time alone does. I was reminded of this a couple weeks ago as I scheduled a social event every night for two weeks. By the time I was reaching the end of that time, I was finding myself drained and craving alone time…and maybe slightly on edge.
I had the privilege of going with a friend to see The Head and The Heart perform in Grand Rapids. It was a wonderful show and I’ve liked the band for a short while, so it was exciting to see them perform live.
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/t7kd5b8tGBM&source=uds
One of their songs struck me and got me thinking of my artistic life. ‘Let’s Be Still‘ is the title track of their sophomore album and is usually interpreted as a sweet love song about a couple ignoring the pressures of life and those around them just to be together for a little bit longer.
While listening, I began to think that the song may not just be about a love story, but also an artist lamenting the pressure surrounding their work.

You can get lost in the music for hours, honey,
You can get lost in a room.
We can play music for hours and hours
But the sun’ll still be coming up soon

The world’s just spinning
A little too fast
If things don’t slow down soon we might not last.
So just for the moment, let’s be still.

An artist can get lost in their work for a time, but we have to return to reality, fulfill responsibility. Life can easily carry us away with it’s demands and distractions. It’s important to take time away from life for the sake of our art. To be still and enjoy creating. To be recharged by writing or drawing or singing or cooking or running or whatever it is you do.

I am realizing that it is important to let myself recharge–not just socially–but artistically as well.

Also, this is just a great song and a wonderful band.

From here in the stillness,
                   –Lex

Carbonated Holiness Among Other Things

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Writing Thoughts

I had the privileged of attending the Festival of Faith and Writing hosted by Calvin College two weeks ago. What a wonderful opportunity to be refreshed and taught by so many amazing writers. It was also great to connect with old writing friends and make some new ones. Plus there were some networking opportunities… ew. Networking.

Coming away from such a very full weekend, I discovered I had a lot of things to process, notes to sift through, and books to read. I am now excited to share with you some of the pieces of wisdom I took from the weekend. The following quotes are either from speakers or where used by speakers throughout the weekend.Some of them may not make sense, I’ve tried my best to take them down in context… it also becomes the Anne Lamott show in the middle there…with closed captions provided by Bret Lott (serious gold coming from those two!). I hope you’re able to get a small piece of how wonderful the weekend was.  Enjoy!

Art gives us a map of who we are and where we fit. The next generation will need that map.
–Gene Luen Yang

Make good friends with really accomplished dead people.
–Scott Cairns on reading well 

We are people of the word. Words matter because they carry ideas and ideas rule the world.
–Richard Foster

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightening and a lightening bug.
–Mark Twain

And What I believed in I wished to behold
–Charlotte Bronte 

It was the stuff I needed to write to get what I was after
–Anne Lamott

I all have to offer as a writer–as a Christian–is my version of things.
–Anne Lamott

You don’t take God to the lovely living room. You welcome him into the bedroom and say ‘I think there’s a couple drawers you need to see.’

Laughter is carbonated holiness.
–Anne Lamott 

To be a writer you have to be a good liar. So how do you lie for Christ? You must write with the integrity of Christ. You must write the truth–in love and compassion, but with dark reality.
–Bret Lott

I thought what you did was a tool–a utility. I had the idea that art was a utility; it wasn’t a manifestation of God. Our creativity is a manifestation of God’s image.
–Bret Lott 

The self-importance of being ‘a writer’ leads to the arrogance of metaphor and similie and overly adjectived sentences. The author’s gotta be the last person you hear from.
–Bret Lott

You strip out everything you think the story should be about and write the story. We must be humble before the story–humble before the words.
–Bret Lott. 

There something about writing fiction that is like wearing your underwear in front of the world
–Suzanne Woods Fisher (This was the second time I had heard this sentiment, the first was from a friend and fellow fiction writer–One of those moments of ‘what have I gotten myself into.’)

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, doth glance from heaven to Earth, from Earth to heaven; and as imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen turns them to shape and gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.
–William Shakespeare 

Five Hundred Words

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Writing Thoughts

So last week, I was talking about being challenged to just write my novel.

I was talking with a writer who has written–and published/going to publish– five novels in the past year. Count them. Five! Seriously. And I’m not feeling inadequate that five is the number of years it has taken be to work on my own novel. Not at all. Me? No… Alright fine, perhaps a bit.

He not only challenged me just to write the novel–to just get it done and off my back–but to give myself a word count. I have to reach that word count every day and if I do not, I have to make myself feel really

guilty.

Seems like a good enough method.

My daily goal is at least 500 words every day. That’s 3,500 words in a week–give or take Sunday. I am excited to hold myself to this daily. It’s been so long since I’ve given myself permission to write like this! The creativity block I felt is crumbling just by giving myself the freedom to create and play with my work.

What is something you’ve been working on that you’d like to complete? What is a baby-step you can assign yourself on a regular basis to get it completed?

To my writers out there, what do you do to keep yourself motivated and writing? Any goals or tricks to make it happen for you?

Happy creating!
                 –Lex

Denim on Denim: What to Do?

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Lex's World
Shirt–Target (Similar) Not
condoning the price on this one!
Jeans–Express
Belt–Fossil (Similar)
Pumps–H&M

So I think it’s safe to say that denim is a closet staple.

I’m no expert and honestly, I’m just trying to figure out how to keep my closet fresh without buying anything new. So how does a mid-western girl like me pair denim with–erm–denim?

I personally love dark denim. I feel it easily classes up the most comfortable outfit. I like classic things and dark jeans make me feel that way.

So why pair it with another denim? Well… because I wanted to.

Scarf –Gift from Cambodia
(Similar)

Now, I’m not going for a weird denim suit look here. But you also don’t want  them to clash or look odd. I try to match a lighter denim to the inside tone of the jeans. Then the denims are in the same blue family and you know they’ll complement.

I had trouble finding a denim top for a while. I’ll let you in on my secret: it’s from the boy’s section at Target. The boyfriend fit is still there, but isn’t drowning my frame. I don’t provide much in way of a chest, so this works well for me. It may not for you, but I would say it’s worth a try. Also, this shirt was half the price of the women’s version when I purchased it a could years ago!

I paired this dynamic denim duo with a feminine scarf, some bohemian jewelry, and a pair of black pumps. The mint beaded bracelet was one I bought while in Camichines. The designer does custom work, but also has lots of great pieces you can check out by clicking this link! It’s been one of my favorite accessories to wear with almost everything. This was a fun outfit that really got me in the mood for spring.

Bracelets: Cuff–Icing (similar); Beads–handmade (Check out more here!)

Burn Out

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Blogging, Lex's World

Why, hello, dear reader!

I hope spring has come to you at last. Here in western Michigan, we’re enjoying a nice rain. It’s been so long since I’ve got to enjoy that sound.
Now, we must have a short discussion.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am working on a novel. Well, at least pretending to work on a novel. I haven’t been able to invest much time into it in the last couple months.
It’s been difficult to balance a blog and small groups and a writing group, and healthy living conditions as well as a novel. As much as I love blogging and interacting with all of you, I am finding myself creatively dry at the end of the day.
I was encouraged this week to just write the blasted thing. To just get it done.
My priority is to be a writer. To put this novel down. Surpassing that is being a family member and friend, a following, perhaps, being a small group leader, and lastly a clean bathroom maker. (Why does that one always come last?) A lot of these roles have been put on hold in order to keep this blog as well as some other blogging collaborations going. I need to pour my creativity into the art I have been called to make.
As a result, I cannot be as devoted to long posts and lots of social networking. (I think I can hear some of you breathing a sigh of relief…) I’m not giving up on Preppy Bohemia. Posts will still come–hopefully on a weekly basis–but for the next four or five weeks, posts will be shorter and my reply time on comments and email may be a bit more delayed. This is not a formal break, but instead, a declaration of no structure for a short time. By May, I should be recharged and ready to do this thing. In the mean time, this place my look more like a writing blog, but hang on. I promise, I’ll be back to a full range of topics shortly.
I am excited to get to writing and am so thankful to all of you for your support and understanding.
What about you? What is something you need to return to doing? What is something you may have to put down to do it?
Here’s to the journey,
                  –Lex

Postcards from Camichines Part V: Trust Exercises

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Lex's World

I don’t know if you’ve ever flown Aero Mexico before, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you absolutely have to.

We arrived at the airport with very little time to spare, waited in line for about an hour, and at last got our boarding passes. I needed three. Only one of mine printed. And my ticket was changed to stand by.

Waiting in line in Guadalajara

I looked to the man at the desk, trying not to look panicked.

“It’s fine,” he told me, crossing out the STB with a Sharpie. “You will get your seat assigned at the gate.”

I nodded lamely and turned to rush through security.

Our team arrived at the gate to find they were holding the plane for us… since the ten of us made up nearly a third of the flight. We were handing over our passes one by one. When the woman at the counter got to me she stopped me.

“You’re standby. You have to wait. We have a flight at 10, one at 4:30 and another at 8:00 tonight.”

I looked wide-eyed between her and our trip leader, a faint roaring in the back of my mind. I didn’t want to be stuck in a Mexican airport alone! Good grief, my Spanish is terrible and I didn’t know what I would do by myself in a foreign country.

The leader explained to her that the printer at the check-out counter had broken and that my ticket wasn’t supposed to have been changed. He told me that he and I would switch if we had to. I nodded, trying to blink back tears. (I cry. It’s annoying and happens at the drop of a hat due to any strong emotion such as HOLY-CRAP-I-COULD-GET-LEFT-HERE-IN-A-MEXICAN-AIRPORT scared. Not thrilled  by it, but it’s what I do.)

With a minute to spare before take-off, I was given a seat on a plane the size of a test tube in front of and beside some of our team members.

We flew from Guadalajara to Monterrey and found we had to go through security again. This time, the woman checking our boarding passes did not speak English. She was very disgruntled that my pass was for Monterrey and no further. I showed her the bar code for my luggage was labeled for Grand Rapids, but wasn’t sure how to explain that I needed other passes.

After a rather tragic attempt of a few of us to mime this, she begrudgingly motioned for me to follow her to who-knows-where. I looked to the rest of the team, disapointed that this was not going to be simple and once again frightened.

I followed the security woman silently through strange hallways. I tried once more not to cry. The lump in my throat bulged as I realized that this walk was awkward, but I could barely make small talk with her if I tried. Not unless we wanted to talk about her favorite color or the time or how much something costs or where the bathroom was. I felt so helpless and confused. Desperate, even. Not to mention, I really had to pee.

Saying goodbye to Mexico

I looked to the woman in her stiff grey suit and her stern expression as she looked straight ahead of us. She was probably in no mood to take a bathroom stop on our way to wherever.

We emerged at the front of the Monterrey airport. She motioned for me to stay put in the check in line as she brought my one and only boarding pass up to the man working there. They talked back-and-fort in rapidly whirring Spanish of which I only got snippets.

I looked up at the giant Delta logo mounted to the marble wall behind the desk.

God, just get me back in that terminal and home. Get me out of this country, I pleaded.

Do you trust me? The words felt like a small echo in my chest. I had felt them there all week.

I am in no mood to play trust exercises, God, I just want to get back to the team and home!

I took deep breaths, trying not to sob in front of the line of spring-breakers behind me.

This is what travelling alone would be like, I realized. I want to travel, I have to get used to this. I began to take inventory of myself.

I am okay. Things are getting worked out, I will be with everyone again shortly. I have plenty of time to get to the gate and visit a bathroom before I would have to board. Everything was fine. Not what I would have planned, but fine.

I looked upward and nodded. Alright, I trust you.

The security woman came to where I was in line. Handing me my boarding pass, she told me in heavily accented English, “You wait. He help.”

“Gracias.” I nodded, feeling relieved.

My first sight of snow upon returning
to Michigan

Upon getting to the check-in counter, I was able to get the rest of my boarding passes and was even upgraded to an emergency exit row for my trouble.

I was fine. I was safe. I was headed home.

It struck me how simple the morning was, but how quick I was to jump to the worst possible scenario. I am becoming more and more aware of how badly I am at taking things in stride. God has taken care of me thus far and he has promised to continue to do so.

I arrived back in Grand Rapids without any trouble and have begun adjusting back to life at home and at work.

My week in Mexico was a beautiful experience that I will forever cherish. God was at work and it was wonderful to experience that with his people in his creation.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Your intercession on our behalf was so necessary and I know I speak for the rest of the team when I say thank you.

Here’s to the next adventure,
                 –Lex

March Favorites: March’s Reading Month

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Books, Friday Favorites, Recommendations

So it’s not Friday… and this is the fourth week in March, not the third. But here is March’s Friday Favorites post! (Better late than never right? Besides, I was on a roll with the Mexico post cards!)

I remember in elementary school always loving March. March is National Reading Month! In school, we always got more reading time, and would be read-aloud to more often, and got prizes for reading books through the month. It was heaven for little book-worm me!

Fast forward to this month, and this has been a sad reading month. My favorite bookstore closed.*sniffle* I was stuck in an airport with a rather disappointing novel–the only novel I brought with me! *sob* I missed some of my favorite writing people at the Jot conference held a couple weeks ago. *wail*

So to bring this pity party to an end, I complied a small list of books I hope to read in the very near future. Here’s the list!

What I’m Looking Forward to Reading in the Coming Weeks:

1. American God’s–Neil Gaiman
Gaiman is just brilliant. Can we all agree to that? I actually started this one last week and am pretty hooked. It’s a little odd and not for the kiddos, but I am enjoying the read.

2.Sense and Sensibility–Joanna Trollope
I love retellings. I love Jane Austen. Anybody there with me? The Jane Austen Project is an attempt for fairly popular authors to tackle a modern re-telling of each of Austen’s works. This was the first one out there and I’m pretty excited to get my hands on it!

3.Adam and Eve After the Pill– Mary Eberstadt
This one is a non-fiction book recommended by a mentor after talking about the current state of sexual deviance. It sounds interesting.

4.The Brother’s K–David James Duncan
A friend told me that this book was one of her favorites. She said she had never cried so much or laughed so hard at the hands of a novel.

5.The Sentinels of Andersonville–Tracy Groot
Tracy is a wonderful writer who is gifted in historical fiction. Her latest novel focuses on the Andersonville prison during the Civil War. I am itching to get to this one.

What’s on the top of your to-read list right now? Let me know in the comments!

Postcards from Camichines Part IV: The Work of Beautiful Hands

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Lex's World

It’s been so fun working in the school throughout our workday. On Tuesday, I got to work with a reading group of third grade boys. So much fun! Yesterday, I taught a writing lesson for the fifth and sixth grade kids. We learned about dialogue and action tags vs. dialogue tags. It was so fun and their energy was contagious. Their excitement for learning and for life and for each other has made this week a blast.

Learning sign language!

One of our awesome team members has a gift for sign language. She has translated for a few years in our worship services and has been down here teaching the kids some signs to go with some worship songs. They have been so excited, asking her about additional signs throughout the week.

Today, those of us working in the courtyard were called into the classroom during their music time. They wanted to show us what they had been working on all week.

They sang ‘Our God is an Awesome God’ and signed along with it.

I began crying halfway through. This was it. This was why we were here. This is why Ranchito con Esperanza exists. Seeing those kids so excited to sing and sign–showing us what they had been learning and worshiping at the same time–it was so beautiful.

These kids have been rescued and are being raised in this home that they may one day go out and be game changers in the name of Jesus Christ. That is a powerful vision.

Me attempting to get some sun in the middle of the corn pile.

Our team has been discussing how easy it can be to get caught up in the mentality of our tasks or discouraged by the monster pile of corn. (The new monster pile of corn, mind you. This one we have to go through kernel by kernel.) It’s these kind of moments that give a glimpse of what it’s all for.

Hebrews 11 talks about the great men and women of the Old Testament who put their faith in God, looking forward to the coming of Christ and never getting to taste that vision in their time. Our team is down here for a week. Such a small blip in the operations of this place and in the lives of these kids.

These barrels of corn should make a years worth of tortillas.
(The best tortillas ever, at that!)

But this work needs to be done. Even what we’re doing with the corn. By husking and sifting and sorting, we are helping them prepare and store the corn that will make tortillas for the next year. In very small, and seemingly insignificant ways, we are laying just a stone to help build the reality of the vision that has been cast for this ministry. But hopefully God will allow our stone to be build upon further.

Seeing these kids sing to Jesus, both with mouth and hands was a wonderful picture of what we want to help Ranchito con Esperanza strive for. We want to see this ministry build these kids up in faith so that they may in turn build up communities for Jesus in the future.

This week has been such a beautiful glimpse of the father. My heart is full. These children, this team, and this beautiful place are all more than I could have ever asked for. I am so grateful for the impact these people have made on my heart and am excited to see what God shall do with this place in the coming months and years.

In His name,
         –Lex

Postcards from Camichines Part III: Flexibility

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Lex's World

Plans are nice. I really like plans and to-do lists and knowing what’s up before it happens.

That’s not how things work down here.
So these posts are not going to be live. The wireless is not as plentiful here as previously described. Which is actually become one of my favorite parts of the week so far–being unplugged and off the grid. Everyone on our team is focused on our tasks and each other and our time with God rather than what may or may not be going on at home. (Although there are three of us down here that have missed the Bachelor finale and I’m dying to know if Juan Pabs chose Crazy or Clueless to be his awfully wedded wife!)
Actually, a lot of things have not been a previously expected.
Turns out, there is a dress code down here which has limited my limited wardrobe significantly. Also, even though there is a lot of work to be done here, it is not plentiful as I expected.
So we’ve all had to learned to adjust. 
And it is so good! Seriously, the slower pace, the lack of distraction over my wardrobe–I am learning a ton through this week and we’re barely at the half-way point.
Taking a break for drinks and shade
I have written previously about my struggle with clothing and significance. This week has just revealed to me more how much stock I put into that still. There have been few moments in which I have felt ‘lovely’ or smelled like something resembling that this week as we work in the heat and dust and chaff. I showered last night only to discover dust still in my ears and the fact that I forgot q-tips.

This grimy shirt and these sweaty jeans and this unexpected down-time are teaching me a lot about my brokenness and the way I have been living my life as of late. These things are all manifestations of my desire for more. My desire to serve myself.
Down here, I am learning not to care what I look like because honestly, it has not changed this experience at all. In fact, I can tell you that I’ve probably had a better time without the distraction of ‘being cute’. I’m more useful in these re-worn clothes then I would have been in the running shorts and tank-tops I had planned to wear. I have been able to dive into any messy task–hefting bricks, sifting corn, working in dust and not being concerned for the safety of my skin or the state of my clothing. I just am. It’s nice. Freeing, actually.
As far as the work goes, I came down here geared up for non-stop work all week long. In reality, it’s been a lot of hurry up and wait. Not because there isn’t work to be done, but because there are somethings here that are more important. When a task is finished, there may not be supplies for the next one yet, or someone else must complete their task before we can start the next thing. 
There is also more of an emphasis on relationships rather than getting things done a quickly as possibly. Earlier, the guys went to pick up some equipment from a man in the village. The director of the home began talking with a man from the village that was loaning said equipment. Before the guys knew it, the director left to buy a bottle of Pepsi for their small little group to enjoy as they chatted.

I finished with a task this morning and was approached by a couple of the little guys to read a book. We spent yesterday afternoon playing with the kids on the swing-set rather than continuing with the corn (so much corn!!!)

Story-time with a couple new buddies
It’s weird. And beautiful. Everything has been getting done quickly, but we have also been given time to enjoy one another and relax. I’ve been exhausted at the end of the day, but never stressed. I feel really healthy down here and that’s been nice.
I need to be more flexible and this week has been a wonderful exercise in that. I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate some of this feeling into my regular life. If any of you have been able to do this, please let me know. I am loving this simplicity!

God has been so good and we’ve barely reached that half-way mark. I am loving this place. Also, tomorrow I’m teaching a writing class–super pumped for this!

xo,
          –Lex

Postcards from Camichines Part II: The Week’s Plumb Line

Posted on by Lex De Weese in Lex's World

So what are we doing here?

I am not asking the existential question I was yesterday. I am actually trying to answer this question.

I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me in the last couple weeks, “so what are you going to be doing down there?” The problem lies in that the answer was, “I don’t really know. A little construction. Working with kids. Something about corn… yeah…”

Alright, so here’s the biz:

Made some AWESOME orange juice after writing this post on the rooftop.
Seriously, this is the best way to start the morning.


There are eleven of us down here in a village outside Guadalajara. We are working at an orphanage and plan to complete whatever tasks they can throw at us. Right now, there is a monster pile of corn to be husked, a chicken coop in need of constructing and a school roof top that will eventually be transformed in to a second story. It seems like a lot and this is our first workday. 


It’s hard to call this place an orphanage, just because it seems so much like a home. One with a rather large family and a school on site, but seriously, a home. There are around fifteen kids here, each so precious and energetic. They are surrounded by a staff that loves them and is really looking out for each of the children’s interests. My first twenty-four hours here have been a huge blessing already.

Part of the corn action. After hand-picking off the kernels for
a while, they brought in a machine to do it much faster. This
is some of the team sifting that corn. SOOO much corn!


Yesterday, we went in to Guadalajara for church and I was given a beautiful picture of what is going on here.

We sat in the back of the sanctuary. The home director, his wife, the children, the interns, the teachers, and our team filled three rows. I spent most of the service lost, holding white knuckled to the bi-lingual bible I had been handed for understanding.

In front of me, the home director sat beside a chair holding two of the younger guys. The one closest two him has only been at the home a few weeks and–like most of the kids–has had a rough background, despite being only a toddler.

I found myself moved to tears in the middle of the service as this little guy nuzzled into his new father’s side. The director of the home smiled down, embracing the child close. 

This little guy is the one who touched my
heart that morning in church. Gah! those
eyes!


This simple picture was so beautiful to me that even thinking about it makes me cry writing this–I’m a crier. I’ll admit it. This little boy arrived here under dire circumstances and now gets to be loved and cherished and held close by a father. 

This beautiful picture of being adopted–taken in and accepted–has captured the purpose of what I think this week will hold. We are not lost. We will never be lost again. We are like this little child–a little beat-up, broken, not quite getting the language or righteousness, but God pulls us close to his side and welcomes us into his home to be loved and to be guided by him.

This is the tone with which this week has been set. I am so excited to see what is next. It was wonderful getting to know the kids a little bit last night as we walked around the village together and played with them in the plaza.

More tomorrow!

xo,
         –Lex