Blessed: Meditations on a Life of Small Wonders

by Ann Rennie

This is a book that asks you to pause and ponder. It’s a miscellany of musings, ranging from the serious to the whimsical and the spiritual to the serendipitous. They are slices of life, reflections on faith, educational commentary, poetic excursions, travel vignettes – a personal licence to wade warmly into the world of words. This book is a celebration of the joys of observation entwined in the words of a woman who is trying, somehow, to wise up.

Blessed interweaves past and present to create a potpourri of essays that are part memoir, part meditation, celebrating a life full of little asides of joy and small wonders.

A life that is truly, blessed.

340 pages, Paperback

Published August 25, 2021

About the author

Ann Rennie is currently teaching English and Religious Education at Genazzano. She has been published in The Age, The Australian, SMH, Madonna, and for the past thirteen years has had a regular column in Australian Catholics.

Reviews

[Julia Chamberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author, Ann Rennie, tells us her own story as she writes of her family, travels, teaching, marriage, and motherhood.

This is not just a regular story but a delight to read as Ann’s writing flows through her great command of the English language. Her choice of words, much alliteration, brings life to and stimulates the reader’s memory of similar experiences.

Ann comes from a large family and she is the eldest of seven. She loves to travel to enjoy the delights of new discoveries. When on a trip to Adelaide she visited the beach at Glenelg. In an instant, our author switches to describe the visit of Queen Victoria’s second son Prince Alfred who not only participated in the official tour but managed to go 'underground' and visit less desirable places not suitable for reporting back to the London papers for genteel society.

However, Ann continues in her travels to look for the unique and whilst at Glenelg beach sees a cabinet of items from an earlier era on display that arouses her curiosity. Imagine, she tells us about the thousand of cutlery items including teaspoons, mustard spoons and cake forks as well as bigger picnic items found in the seabed in the modern area and displayed for viewers. Haven’t we all lost a treasure in the sand on a trip to the beach?

As the story unfolds we are in the heart of modern Paris with a visit to the Luxembourg Gardens. She rescues a vacant chair and settles down and watches the passing parade, including children playing with toy boats on the pond and while the not-so-young women promenade with their dogs, men of all ages talk on their phones and young people take selfies.

A highlight of one of Ann’s travels was to take a detour to visit Bangkok and in particular, the 'old' Oriental Hotel, now renamed the Mandarin Oriental with the sole purpose of viewing for herself a painting by her Aunt Valerie who was commissioned in 1976 to paint a celebratory tribute to the original hotel and from a postcard. Ann describes her luxurious stay at this famous hotel and dreams of meeting Graham Greene there and discussing the art of writing with him as did her Aunt Valerie.

Ann has given her readers a delightful story of memories and for budding writers a vivid example of how to lift the spirits of the reader through her command of the English language.

[Carol Rosenhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world blighted by Covid and frequently ravaged by flood, fire and famine, it is easy for one to succumb to despair and nihilism. Yet all such feelings are exorcised as we share Ann Rennie’s faith filled journey of joy and hope in her recent publication ‘Blessed.’ With lexicological mastery in a selection of exquisitely written vignettes, Ann shares her travels through both a physical and spiritual landscape. While her devout Catholic childhood has laid the foundation for a positive framework in her life, there is nothing holier than thou about Ann. Her zest for living, combined with her extensive travels and diverse life experiences, make for an enriched and broadminded pilgrim. Bathed in maturity and humility, her kaleidoscopic eye and acute ear captures life’s sublime moments that are so often elicited by the simple and mundane. For Ann a mere drop of water provokes a transformative reflection which becomes, ‘The giver of life and the baptismal drenching of initiation and welcome. It is the salty sweat of the brow and the warm wading pool of the womb. It is the vast oceans and small ponds and rivers and trickles and tributaries that feed the earth,’ Ann’s courageous and exuberant personality constantly seeks the road less travelled to encourage us all to embrace the joys of living in the moment. Everything is a part of the grand design and Ann’s eloquent and lyrical prose seduces the reader into feeling equally blessed to experience this time called life.

[Julianne Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this time of COVID-19, a turning point in our world, reading Blessed turns our minds to the
small blessings of each day. A micro viewpoint compared to our former macro world.
This collection of reflections takes this reader on a journey through Ann’s beautiful poetic style of word pictures, with a musical inflection.
I enjoyed Blessed and could relate it to many themes in my own life. This type of memoir is not
strictly in chronological order, and surprised me in the contrasting themes explored. I did not
want to finish reading too quickly… from the opening quotations of each section I wanted to gather my thoughts.
Ann is an adventurous personality, always curious to learn. Her extended “Working Holiday “ in
the UK provided opportunities to entertain her family and friends with letters. Ann reflects that
these versions of her adventures & hardships were tailored for her audience. Her mother kept
all these letters sent on blue Aerograms… as did my mother.
Ann enjoyed being a “ free spirit “ but made the choice to return “home”. She was always drawn
to exploring her love of art and architecture off the beaten tourist path.
Ann reflects upon the part played by our mothers in a loving and prayerful formation in Catholic ways.
Turning to the future, Ann writes of her hopes for her own daughter, which caused me to look
to such hopes for my own daughters

[Eve Provan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First impressions of Ann Rennie's delightful book were, of course, of its cover. Fiona O'Neill's beautiful illustration creates a 'feel good' vibe which permeates the book until the last page.
The format is easily accessible and contents so varied that one can come and go in short or long bursts with time for reflection along the way.
Ann's love of words is infectious and I must confess to having a dictionary on hand and pen and paper to record some of the wonderful quotes!
Ann has generously shared so much of herself and her life's experiences from walking through Paris to picking daffodils in the Cornish countryside to sitting on her own balcony in the summer holidays. We are invited into Ann's wonderful family and given an insight into a teacher's joy in sharing her love of words with her students - what 'blessed' girls are they!
Much has been said and written about the difficulties of living through a pandemic. There are many sad, distressed
people in our communities today. "Blessed" is a gift at such a time - may it help many readers to find their own small wonders and to be heartened.

[Bernadette Batten · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her book, Blessed, Ann was able to transport me back to my own childhood in suburban Melbourne.
Her stories so beautifully told, brought back many of my own memories and reminded me of family life shared with other big Catholic families in Melbourne during the 60's and 70's. The richness of Ann's vocabulary had me regularly diving for a dictionary and learning plenty along the way. Her descriptions of travel and life in Europe as a young woman and then again later in life had an ability to utterly transport me there for myself. The habit of lighting candles in churches across the globe is one shared and a testament to the saying that 'old habits die hard'. Ann's beautiful description also of trees and birds and Melbourne light and landscape across the suburbs into our CBD reminded me, especially in these Covid times, just how lucky we are. Thanks so much Ann for a beautiful book.

[Peter Cahill]

Ann Rennie's prose positively shines. She recognises joy and hope in all manner of things, including the most ordinary of daily events. Indeed, in the world which Annie offers us, God's spirit is all-pervasive. I especially enjoyed her evocative tales of travelling where her curiosity and joy in life was most manifest. I delight in visiting medieval churches and cathedrals, as Ann obviously does. At times, I actually felt I was there with her, so sharp and sensitive were her observations. I also liked very much her comments about language and reading. Her passion for books truly resonates.

Peter Cahill August 2021.

[Mary Udovicic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blessed is a wonderful book. Ann generously invites us into her life, sharing joys, memories and 'wonders'. Ann's engaging and authentic writing style not only invites you into her life but also encourages you to reflect on the 'small wonders' in your own life.