Dear friends and family,
As some of you may know, "cozy" has always been my thing. I've been in pursuit of the cozy moment and shared experience, for as long as I can remember. Cozy means different things to different people. For some of us, cozy is about a meal of comfort food, or about the process of getting a special family recipe prepared. For others, cozy is about holiday memories, or fireside gatherings. For some, cozy is about fluffy sweaters, or the perfect pair of blue jeans, or even a treasured book. Cozy can be a person, place or thing...sometimes it's the perfect combination of all three! For many of us, memories that are still very much alive with their vivid warmth are cozy. Most of us have memories of people in our lives who made us feel safe, loved, cared for...in their own way they were cozy.
I am embarking on a project, and I need your help. I want to know what cozy is to you! Would you share with me your impressions and feelings about the concept of cozy? I want to know your favorite cozy memories of people, experiences, foods, favorite recipes...anything that means cozy to you. If you have ideas about how to create cozy moments, atmosphere, projects, gifts, rooms, lives, memories, please share! I want to know why things are cozy to you, what makes a certain memory a cozy one, when you think about someone in your life (even someone long gone), what makes it a cozy memory? Is there a coziness connected to your experiences and/or the traditions of your faith? What are they, and why? I could go on and on with prompting questions...but you can make of this anything you like! Cozy might be a verb or a noun to you...but either way I want to know about it! The whole idea is that I want to see all the varied and diverse experiences and definitions of cozy in your lives.
I have been writing about what the cozy experience means to me. I am working to create a book, possibly a coffee table book, full of recipes, photos, quotes, and prose...all about The Art of Cozy. Will you help me? I'm thinking that if I get enough submissions from all of you, that we will use what we can in the book, and then the overflow will help us create a web site of the same name...a continuation of the books ideas, suggestions, and reminiscences. It will be a celebration of what cozy means to people, and we'll let people visiting the site submit their own ideas about cozy living there as well.
Doesn't the idea of this just make you feel...well, COZY?
I may use your entire writing (whether it's only paragraphs, pages, a poem, etc.), or take quotes out of it...please send recipes, musical references, even book titles that are cozy to you...whatever you want to include! I don't care about length of writing, or your confidence in your writing skills. Anything you send me will be a blessing and...and SO much fun to read!
I can't do this without YOU. Would you please write something for me?
I thank you in advance, and hope that you will consider asking your friends and family to contribute writing for this project as well.
I need solid contact information for any submissions: Name, e-mail (if available) address and phone number, and age.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Many hugs,
Brigid
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5 comments:
The first thing that comes to my mind is Sunday morning "spooning" with Dominic (son). Nobody knows how to spoon like Dominic.
Over the near 13 years I've known Domingos, he has yet to learn how to do a 1/2 decent 10 minutes worth of "spooning". Every time he attempts to spoon, it is the most uncomfortable and awkward feeling. He doesn't know where to put his knees or his elbows. Then his breathing on the back of my neck is just unbearable!!
Then came Nicole and I was certain she was going to be a "spooner". My sweet little princess was going to spoon with her Mom and just get...cozy!!! Well...she's not!!! She's JUST LIKE HER FATHER!!!
By the time Dominic came around I had just given up on the idea of spooning. I dissappointedly thought "this little boy is going to be just like his Father and big Sister". I had all but given up on the idea of ever spooning again when...one cold winter morning, Dominic was about 1 year old and he crawled into the bed. He got next to me turned his back and just fit against my chest and belly like a glove. WOW!!! What a spooner!!!! I had finally found pure bliss again. Someone who would fit right up against me like I had always imagined.
Now THAT is my idea of COZY!!!
from~Isilda
Hey Brig,
Don't know if a poem would fit the bill. If it doesn't, it doesn't matter to me. I thought of a poem I wrote about my bed a few years back:
SANCTUARY BED
In your comforting clothes you wrap
My weary limbs for a welcome nap
All day the world's been giving chase
Mind and body at a frantic pace
But once within your arms I lie
The demanding rants are made quiet
I sink within your soft tresses
You absorb the day's harsh pressures
Like a sympathetic lover
You embrace me in protective cover
And stave off cares for a little while
The lure of dreamscapes to beguile
Then you rock me to the bliss of oblivion
Where the day's battles can all be won
And ragged thoughts are new revised
So that envigorated I'll arise
And like a faithful spouse when eve draws near
You'll be waiting for me here
from~Aunt Mare
Dear Brigid,
What a fun idea! I will reflect on this more and see what comes to mind. But here are some of my initial thoughts:
Cozy things, places, thoughts, people always bring my heart back to the peace and safety of being a child. Cared for. Embraced. Psalm 131 comes to mind, --in particular, verse 2, "Rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my sould within me." There is no cozier scripture, in my mind! And yet, cozy is something that happens in the NOW. When you feel cozy, you do not think about the past or worry about the future. There is only that moment. What a grace.
A brief cozy memory: When I was a child, our mother had an old quilt, which we called the "cloud blanket." It was a cream-colored silky fabric, very soft and puffy with filling. We coveted it! The worn spots did not take away from the appeal; they actually proved the worth of the quilt. We only got to use the "cloud blanket" when we were sick. I have a precious memory of being home from school one winter day with a sore throat. Remember those times when you were too sick to go to school but well enough to enjoy being home? I lay on the small couch in the enclosed, heated back porch. Sunlight poured into the room from the windows on three sides. It was quiet, except for the reassuring sounds of my mother working in the kitchen. And I was wrapped in the cloud quilt. It was so warm and so soft. It did not matter that my throat hurt, because I felt so cozy. I drifted off to sleep.
Hope you continue to enjoy this project and get lots of good responses!
Michelle (Shelly) Zwadlo
Cozy to me is my baby girl sleeping on my chest, while reading a book, with my dog next to me on one side and my husband on the other. A fire in the fire place. Driving on a back road during a huge snowstorm when no one else is out. Sitting in a hot bath. snuggling with my dog for an afternoon nap.
Gosh, I feel so cozy!!
XOXO
Laurie L.
What a great idea. I'll work on my items starting with vanilla. Yes, vanilla is cozy to me. I've surrounded myself with it over the years - candles, those reed sticks, ice cream. Mmmmm, vanilla.
Love ya, Tara
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