domesticity | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

When Shackles become Wings: On Domesticity, Creativity, and Me

Anita Mathias — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 13:13:51 +0000

I was married 25 years ago, while in a Ph.D programme in Creative Writing at the State University of New York Binghamton. I had just earned a BA and an MA in English from Somerville College, Oxford, then an MA in Creative Writing from Ohio State University. My husband probably hoped for a traditional marriage, […]

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Housework as a Pathway to Prayer—with Vermeer’s Women

Anita Mathias — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:32:25 +0000

You can almost hear the silence. The milkmaid is quiet, so quiet, and time is suspended as she pours milk. The hands work while the mind thinks. Is it a life of drudgery, or is it a gift–her trivial chore a window into eternity, time to think, to pray, to look out of the window […]

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The Church That Had Too Much

Anita Mathias — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:33:55 +0000

On holiday in Ireland in 2010, I woke up from a vivid dream, which I have here written down. It’s available on Amazon.com and on Amazon.co.uk. The Church That Had Too Much Once upon a time, there was a church that Had Too Much. Now the members of this church worked very hard with great […]

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Decluttering: An Easy Way to Start a Virtuous Circle in Your Life

Anita Mathias — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:09:00 +0000

Vermeer, Music Lesson, Until 2008, one of our greatest sources of sadness and irritation was the fact that we were rather messy and disorganised. And, as for the girls, well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. But we have gradually changed. If you show up unannounced, or better still, with 15 minutes […]

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In which I am Determined to Declutter

Anita Mathias — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:21:00 +0000

Today was my decluttering morning. We finally broke down and decided we needed more help than a cleaner. So we have a young Polish man come a couple of times a week, to clean, and do various housekeeping chores–he assembled bookshelves today. And so I have designated the morning he comes as my decluttering morning. […]

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Flylady and Hospitality: An Idiosyncratic Approach!

Anita Mathias — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:39:00 +0000

Flylady, the spunky North Carolinian housekeeping guru has this amusing advice–if your house gets messy invite someone to visit to motivate you to clean it up. If it gets really messy, really desperate, invite someone to stay. Last Sunday, we hosted a tea party today for 14 adults & 17 children, all of whom got on […]

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In Which Teenager’s Rooms are Like Rooms of Requirement

Anita Mathias — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Zoe says Irene’s room is like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter. Whatever we needed and missed is to be found there–under her bed!! It can be like the Chamber of Horrors in Harry Potter, I say. And since we have a three day Bank Holiday weekend, guess what we are going to do!

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Flylady, Domesticity and Housework.

Anita Mathias — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Our cleaning lady from Zimbabwe is singing in rich, high voice as she cleans. She is singing worship songs; I believe I have heard the melodies before. She reminds me of Lena, our previous Brazilian cleaner who also sung as she worked. I love the sound of their singing. It has such a happy […]

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In which I Got the Precise House I Prayed for, and when I see better, I will remain content

Anita Mathias — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:36:00 +0000

When we were house-hunting in 2005, I made a list of 10 things I wanted in a house. Some of them were fantasies, pipedreams, improbabilities. A detached study, ponds, at least an acre of garden, and since we were in England, stone walls, rambling roses. A stream around the property. And being a Christian, I […]

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Affluenza

Anita Mathias — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 07:37:00 +0000

A surprise among the lists of ten most popular websites is a spunky North American one, Flylady.net. It’s basically about the problem of too much stuff and how to organize it. The stories and testimonials are chilling–about the real distress caused by those who have too much stuff, more than they can handle, organize, keep […]

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