Three things from DAH. 

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. "He who sings scares away his woes" (Miguel de Cervantes)

First up this week, Challenges …  
Now feels full of challenges for DAH. Radical changes in my business (not that it was lucrative) and where we live. Yes, we're moving again. This will be the sixth home in 15 years. Each of those six home transitions involved ownership change: buying and selling, again and again. And moving. Moving stuff. But, before that: sorting stuff, culling stuff, packing stuff. The challenges are sapping my energy and shaking my emotions. I'm told: Just Breath. Well, if that's all it takes to overcome challenges, then why am I facing any? I'm breathing all the darn time! Sorry for venting. Breathing now. Deeply, slowly breathing.  
7 Strategies to Face Life's Challenges

Second up this week, Chiaroscuro …  
It's the interplay of light and shadow, often in the visual arts, but also in other pursuits (the word is liberally applied). I often look at the world as a dark theater lit only by a ghost light. A few things I see clearly. Others not so. My fascination and fear in the dark: What lurks there? More light yields more awareness, maybe. Am I really safer shining light into dark? No I know is the answer. With a bit of light I may avoid stumbling into the pit. But the pit's still there. And I'm a clumsy mortal, distracted by challenges even in the bright light of awareness. Seeking a pleasing balance between light and shadow is my best path forward, whether in a scary big world or a safe-seeming little life. A richer life, appreciating the interplay of light and shadow in all things. 
Vocal & Psychological Chiaroscuro

Third up this week, Cheddar …  
My Granny's family lived near Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, southwest England. An area famous for strawberries and, yes, Cheddar cheese (the cheese name "cheddar" has either ascended or descended to become ubiquitously assigned to all cheeses made in that style). I'm a great fan of Neal's Yard Dairy. A few years ago, serendipity gave us a vacation rental apartment above the Neal's Yard Dairy shop in London's Covent Garden (the Borough Market shop is also splendid, and large). We've tasted and enjoyed so many Neal's Yard cheeses. And you can find some of them in the USA, too! Last week we finished up a piece of Neal's Yard Montgomery's Cheddar, raised in Somerset. We were in California, enjoying a famous English cheese, as I thought about my Granny, and recalled visits to Neal's Yard and London. The tastes I love mix people and places in memory.
Knowing ‘Terroir’: a Sense of Place

A Book I'm Going To Read Soon: Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process, edited by Joe Fassler
"What inspires you? That's the simple, but profound question posed to forty-six renowned authors in LIGHT THE DARK. Each writer begins with a favorite passage from a novel, a song, a poem--something that gets them started and keeps them going with the creative work they love." (from the Bookshop.org blurb)

And a bit more:

You Will Notice a Faithful Block of Cheese is Present, by Matthew Rohrer

it cannot harm you
it doesn't even see you

or know that you're here
it is merely a bewitched cheese

that is faithful to me
and also does some typing

and filing, organizing really
it is an extremely wonderful cheese

do not be alarmed
I am its master

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes …  

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. 

Please share any or all of this newsletter. It's Free every Friday!
If you’re seeing it for the first time, you can subscribe and browse past issues HERE