***looking for Stillwater Writing Retreat? You can find complete information on the upper section of the page under its own tab***
"Just for fun, my family invented a religion like the Shakers we called Stillwater. I'm eldress, and we have a big celebration on Midsummer's Eve. It's really a state of mind. Stillwater connotes something very peaceful, you see, life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more.
Stillwater believers are very hedonistic. Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with. Do you know that lovely quotation from Fra Giovanni? He was an old monk from away back who wrote to his patron, 'The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy.' That's the first commandment of the Stillwater religion. Joy is there for the taking."
-Tasha Tudor, from The Private World of Tasha Tudor
*** I discovered Tasha Tudor when we got the corgyn - she has written and illustrated several children's books featuring the corgi. As I looked for more of her wonderful books, I came across her cookbook, which I love, and the above book, which is a favorite, full of her ramblings and the most marvelous photos of Tasha in the Vermont cottage built by her son.
8 comments:
Now I can't stop seeing images of Tasha Tudor appearing in "Almost Famous". . .
Oh my god. That is just about equal to you putting chocolate chips in Ancient Grains cereal... !
If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the song of the hermit thrush....
Some of us are always there, jeezled or not. :)
True, Jason. At Tasha's place, like ours, if you're jeezled, though, the corgyn sniff it out and bark like mad.
To quiet them you have to quiet yourself. :)
I'm signing on for Stillwater!
mikaelah, me too... :)
What a great site you have.
In her own way Tasha led me to it when I did a search for "stillwater" and your blog came up.
I am still so sad about losing Tasha. She was such a mentor and friend to so many. She was loved and will be missed.
Maddy, thank you for commenting. We don't have TV and I rarely know what's going on in the "larger" world - so I didn't know Tasha had died.
I'll be reprising the Stillwater post today in her memory.
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