HI THERE! I'M BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI, FREELANCE WRITER, HISTORICAL RESEARCHER, & PERPETUAL SEEKER OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. WELCOME TO MY SPACE WHERE I SHARE THE BOOKS I'M READING, MY SPIRITUAL FINDINGS, FLOWERS IN MY GARDEN, AND LOST STORIES. ALL ARE WELCOME HERE.
When I was in college my mom and I stayed up until 4 am watching the TV series of The Thorn Birds on VHS. We binge-watched before there was such a thing! However, she says now that the book is way better. I’m sure it probably is, but how could you not love watching Richard … Continue reading The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this, is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” –(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) This first letter from Paul to the Thessalonians was misinterpreted. So he wrote a second letter (2 Thessalonians) to urge them to quit their idleness and get to work as some in the … Continue reading The book of 1 & 2 Thessalonians
So excited for this one! I joined the introductory class with Mirabai Starr and Matthew Fox on Shift Network last Thursday. I’m so excited to learn more about Julian of Norwich and her “showings”. She is Richard Rohr’s favorite mystic, and wrote much about the femininity of God, and as I’ve gone full-fledged mystic myself … Continue reading The Showings of Julian of Norwich : A New Translation by Mirabai Starr
I help my son with his math a lot these days, sometimes I feel like it’s my job while they are remote. It works out because I’m also confused so it boosts his confidence and he gets to teach me a lot of the time. But in between problems I whittle. I’m almost done with … Continue reading Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community
Can I talk about my sweet woodruff? I only grow it because Vita Sackville-West suggested it in her many garden books. It is one of my favorite flowers in my garden now. Not only can it be used in tea & scented sachets, I also use it to make simple syrup for cocktails. Today I … Continue reading Can I talk about my flowers? Feature: Sweet Woodruff
The Living Forest: Two young boys in the Canadian Woods is a book I enjoyed very much. Written initially for children, it is the story of two boys and a man who has lived with the indigenous tribes of Canada his whole life. Together they take a trip through the wilderness in 1891 and along … Continue reading The Living Forest by Arthur Heming
What do you miss?? These are my own contemplative thoughts. You might disagree and that’s ok! . . . The book of Philemon is a brief letter from Paul to Philemon begging for the freedom of Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus. He asks Philemon to think of Onesimus instead as a brother in Christ. Onesimus knows … Continue reading The book of Philemon
Finished writing in an entire journal yesterday, and it’s time to begin a new one! These are my prayer journals, the worn one on the left is the old one. Took me a little over four months to fill every inch with essays on prayer and spiritual journeying. Also if you swipe you’ll see a … Continue reading Journaling and prayer. What are your thoughts on homemade communion?
Catching up with my old friend today, Mr. W. Somerset Maugham. His short stories are just as entertaining as his novels. This is a collection of some of his earliest work. . . Today I read The Punctiliousness of Don Sebastian. “The duke and his wife, who was not his duchess, lay side by side … Continue reading Seventeen Lost Stories of W. Somerset Maugham
More on my journey back to the neighborhood of Poletown razed for the GM plant in 1981. Found Father Joseph Karasiewicz’s grave today against terrible wind and bone-numbing chill in a deserted graveyard. Father Joe was known as the “iron priest of Poletown”, he fought to save the Immaculate Conception church with his life. He … Continue reading Lost Story about the Iron Priest of Poletown
BRIANNE TURCZYNSKI 