zena musings

The new is always present with the old, however hidden

Carla Blazek — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:35:51 PST

I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done my share of eating too. I am not washed and beautiful, in control of a shining world in which everything fits, but instead am wandering awed about on a splintered wreck I've come to care for, whose gnawed trees breathe a delicate air, whose bloodied and scarred creatures are my dearest companions, and whose beauty bats and shines not in its imperfections but overwhelmingly in spite of them...

– Annie Dillard

(Photo taken during this afternoon's walk.)

'tis the season for candles and saving and giving

Carla Blazek — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:27:44 PST

Happy December, everyone!

Our gorgeous holiday candles are now available! From silent night to hanukkah to happy new year, they're sure to delight. Plus save a holly jolly 20% OFF with coupon code HOHOHO now through 12/31 at zenamoon.com!

NaNoWriMo Special for November 2011

Carla Blazek — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:51:54 PDT

In celebration of National Novel Writing Month, we're offering 20% OFF with coupon code NANOWRIMO during the entire month of November!

Fan your creative flames and keep yourself company with a candle for writing, calling the muses, just do it, the creative fire and more. (Offer ends 11/30/11.)

Special props to zena moon workerbee and NaNoWriMo participant Colleen, who came up with the idea for us to offer a special promotion to her fellow writers.

Friday's Truth

Carla Blazek — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:42:07 PDT

To those working for the rights and health of the underdog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm so grateful there are people like you who can do this. I don't pretend to know what's best for anyone individually or collectively, but when I pay attention -- intentionally or not -- to what happens in this world and how people, governments and corporations do harm, it's easy to feel despair.

Like many creatives, I wasn't born with emotional insulation, and despite being stronger and more stable than ever, sometimes my coping mechanisms are still pretty fragile. I'm extremely sensitive and simply not wired to handle shitty people, shitty behavior or shitty energy.

You will never engage me in a conversation about politics or religion. Even if we're in agreement.

If you are a local news reporter, weatherman or anchor, I have no idea who you are.

You won't find me in organized activist circles. Yet if we ever live in a time when it's necessary, you can bet my house will be part of an "underground railroad."

If you enjoy talking about government and social problems, I will do everything in my power to avoid you.

Sometimes I admonish myself, "I should pay attention to this. I should march in that. I should, I should, I should." But honestly? Every bit as harmful (to me) as cutting myself with a sharp knife. My default setting is Care Too Much.

I lived in a state of despair for a long time, and it's only in the last couple years that I've made my way to the light again. Not surprisingly I'm mama-bear fiercely protective of my peace of mind. For me, serenity isn't something nice to have, it's a matter of life or death.

So, to the bad news I heard and the awful photo I saw earlier . . . goddammit, you break my heart. And unfortunately there's nothing I can do about you. I have to turn you over to God. I have to do my best to make a difference where I can in my own life today. To smile at strangers. To extend my hand to the newcomer at the noon AA meeting. To enjoy -- ENJOY -- this day of my life as best I can.

Go Now and Live by Jeanette LeBlanc

Carla Blazek — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:41:53 PDT

It's new, it's improved and as always it's fat-free

Carla Blazek — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:23:30 PDT

Happy happy joy joy -- our new website is up and running! :D To celebrate, we're offering a 20% discount on all orders placed through the end of June using coupon code BLOSSOM. Visit zenamoon.com today!

Changes, patience and holding my breath a little

Carla Blazek — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:11:55 PDT

We're in the process of launching a gorgeous new zenamoon.com, and sometime over the next 72 hours it will be live (fingers crossed). Hopefully all will go without a hitch, but we're told there may be an interruption in site availability while servers are being updated. If that happens, rest assured I'm keeping a close watch and things will be up and running as quickly as possible!

Thanks for your understanding. I think you'll like what's in store. :)

The Lanyard by Billy Collins (in honor of Mother's Day)

Carla Blazek — Sun, 08 May 2011 08:39:44 PDT

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

We have a strict dress code at zena moon: stretchy waistbands only

Carla Blazek — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:38:55 PDT

(Max, Samantha, Silas the Dobie, Shelby, Abby & Nancy the One-Eyed Wonder Puppy)

Happy Sunday from the zena moon workerbees and dogs!

Spring Cleaning

Carla Blazek — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:50:57 PST

It's in our nature, the need to sweep out winter's dust and polish the windows. Boxes filled with linens, pillows, clothes and towels are stacked downstairs ready to be donated. The bottom of my garbage bin holds yard debris. On top, expired foodstuff. And on top of that, things -- many things -- that qualify as emotional debris and expired sentimentalstuff, long past their Use By date.

All tossed with a deep sense of relief and a dash of defiance. Nowadays there are higher standards for what I keep.

Without much sentiment I'm culling photos from Flickr and Facebook. Deleting emails. Ditching CDs, old software installation discs, unused candleholders and other unwanteds. Releasing what no longer serves and by that I mean, to a large degree, what (and who) hasn't felt good for some time. A simple barometer. There's something about this spring, this year . . . letting go and making room has never felt so good!

I don't know whether I'm moving forward and I certainly don't know what lies ahead, but I do know this: I'm facing forward. I'm looking in the right direction.