Activities that Feed my Spirit - Ruth L. Snyder

I have come to realize that some activities are almost as important to me as breathing. Music and taking pictures of nature - enjoying beauty, are two activities that feed my spirit. I also enjoy baking and crafts - sewing, knitting, crocheting, and cross stitch, but crafts have had to take a back-seat while I raise my children. My kids encourage me to bake often!

A selection of pies I made

 Steve Bell describes beauty this way:

"I think beauty is one of the touchstones that everyone can relate to. You see a great sunset and, believer or non-believer, at that point you're connecting to something you know deep in your soul, which is far beyond something you know in your head. And music has the ability to connect people...like a sunset can, or a great vista...it's a tool to bring people to a sense of transcendence. There is something beyond me happening here." (Why do we hunger for beauty?)

 My parents are both musical. My dad played an E-flat alto horn - similar to a french horn, but with a larger mouthpiece. He also whistled, and sang bass. I heard my mom play accordion and piano, and she also talked about playing a sousaphone in a marching band during her school years. We spent many hours singing as a family, during family devotions, at church, and while traveling. I learned how to sing both soprano and alto from listening to my mom.

As a young child, I remember longing for the opportunity to learn how to play the piano. My parents were missionaries and moved frequently, so we didn't have a piano for many years. However, when I was nine I attended school for a year in Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe). Although my siblings and I were five hundred miles away from our parents, one benefit was that I was able to take piano lessons. In one year I learned enough that I was placed at the grade two level when we came back to North America. I'm thankful I was able to continue all the way through completing grade 10 piano and theory.

Today I share my love of music by playing at our church, leading our church choir, accompanying and singing in the Elk Point Community Choir, and teaching private piano lessons as well as Music for Young Children.

My dad was a printer, but one of his hobbies was taking pictures, developing, and printing them himself. (This was when you had to load film into your camera and pictures were developed using chemicals in a darkroom.) Since we lived in southern Africa at the time, we were able to go to game parks where animals like lions, giraffe, and crocodiles lived in their natural habitat. Although I didn't enjoy having to sit still for what seemed like hours, I did enjoy watching the images come to life in the dark room. My dad also took many pictures of the beautiful African sunsets - even in black and white they looked amazing.

Today I often take walks and snap pictures as I go. When we travel, I take my Sony a200 with me. I have also been asked to take pictures at events like anniversaries, motorcycle Sunday at our church, the Elk Point Dinner Theatre, and of course, our InScribe Fall Conference. Nature is still my favourite subject.

Pink-tipped roses

Winter beauty

Sunrise from my window

Elk at dusk in Jasper

I also shared a post on my personal blog today of some pictures I took on my iPhone during my morning walk. You can check it out at http://ruthlsnyder.com/a-little-slice-of-heaven/#.V2AiTmZ_w7w.

What feeds your spirit? How do you enjoy and share beauty?