Questions for Advent

During Advent, we occupy our greatest longings.—Ruth Haley Barton  

Though I didn’t grow up observing the tradition of Advent, I became more aware of it while attending graduate school at the turn of the millennium. My Catholic neighbor—also in the poetry program—told me she liked to engage a reading project for the December days leading up to Christmas. She inspired me to read the 24 books of Homer’s Odyssey. 

 

I enjoyed that practice so much, I’ve been celebrating Advent in some way ever since. Some years, it’s a reading project. Other years a painting or writing project. For one particularly hard year, I simply committed to walking a minimum of four miles, 24 days in a row, to keep my spirit, mind, and body focused on the goodness I chose to believe was coming. (It was.)  

 

In our commercialized world, Advent has largely been reduced to a cardboard calendar with chocolates hidden behind little, numbered doors. But Advent is so much richer than even the finest chocolates. 

 

The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which means coming. And Advent shares a root with adventure, too. (Which, come to think of it, made my first Advent project of reading Homer’s adventures a good fit!) 

 

Advent is a time of expectation. And it’s also time to ask ourselves questions in anticipation of the goodness we wait for. Last December, I painted a watercolor and wrote a poem-question each day of Advent. 

 

And…I combined them all into a little booklet, Questions for Advent. My first limited-edition writing project. 

 

The details:

• 52-page, saddle-stitched booklet
• Printed on 100-lb matte paper, 8.5 x 5.5 
• Limited edition of 100
• Each hand-numbered & signed
• And… a 4 x 6 postcard print on linen weave of the watercolor for goodwill

If you’d like a copy of Questions for Advent (or three!): 

• 1 booklet-print set for $20 
• 3 sets for $50

The price covers shipping within continental US. (Apologies to folks elsewhere! The mailing cost is more than the booklet.)

 

To order, email me with your desired quantity, and I’ll send you payment info. I’ll fill orders as they come in until the booklets have found homes. [*Update: the booklets have all found their homes.]

 

I hope you enjoy these paintings and poem-questions, and I hope this little booklet will be something you enjoy for many Advents to come. 

May your quest and adventure be good.

 

Love,

 

Anna