So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray. ~ Mary Oliver
A few weeks ago, a subscriber wrote me from the UK. He was struggling with deadlines and school exams and the fear of the future and he was just not feeling inspired to do anything. Deadlines loomed and yet he had no motivation.
We've all been in that place, right?
Every Sunday when I sit down to write my memo, I face writers block. Nothing comes out right, I'm not sure what I'm trying to say and I'm not satisfied with any of the drafts. I can't tell you how many half pieces I have abandoned in favor of re-posting an article I wrote at an earlier time (confession).
In any case, it's hard to get to a place you want to get to when it's just not happening.
My suggestion to my friend in the UK was to move away from the stuff that was harrowing and looming in on him for a moment and to find the little things that got him juiced up and to do that for awhile. We always know that we are going to make the deadline, that the moment will pass, and that the thing we are afraid will happen doesn't and that we end up faring pretty well in the end, regardless.
But sometimes we just need to get back to our happy place.
Sometimes we might be surprised at how simple the pleasure can be. For me, a full tank of gas and a good cup of coffee do it for me every time, because it spells FREEDOM, and freedom is what I live for. Put me on an open road and I'm good to go. And then there are moments where a serving of Lasagna Bolognese with extra sauce from my new favorite restaurant will get me to bliss.
It doesn't matter what it is if it gets you there.
A friend of mine downloaded an app for her Iphone that has different bird chirping calls. She sits outside on her patio and plays the app and listens to the birds in her yard respond.
It's the simple things in life that make it magical.
It's such an interesting question that we don't tend to ask ourselves. What are the little things that make us happy?
We know that we want to make money, have a romantic partner, and a healthy body. Those are the givens. But what feeds our soul?
Answer that and then find a way to incorporate a ritual around it in some way, every day.
When I take the scenic route to my yoga class on Friday, it's the drive I look forward to. The class is just the bonus. One of the things I realized when I was driving there this last week was just how beautiful the area is that I live in.
Not that I hadn't noticed this before.
But a friend of mine was recently on vacation to Paris and sent me pictures from her Iphone. I realized that my drive through these roads looked similar to the beautiful pictures she sent me.
That people actually go on vacation to see what I see where I live.
Sometimes the magic can be in our own back yard. But we have to look for it. We have to claim it as our own.
Isn't that what we want? To make more meaning of the mundane? To not just live life but have an "experience" of being alive?
Joseph Campbell says, "Find a place inside where there is joy and the joy will burn out the pain."
I find that so refreshing. No need to analyze the pain, re-hash it or build a monument around it but instead, to simply seek joy.
He also said, "Follow your bliss" and that when you do that, the universe will open doors where there were only walls.
Could it really be this simple? That happiness is comprised of finding the small things in life that make you happy and doing them over and over and over again?
Really?
So, what are we waiting for? What in your day brings you joy? The smell of jasmine in bloom? Walking at sunrise? Dancing in the living room while no one is watching?
I heard of one woman who joyfully eats mangos in the bathtub. Talk about contentment. She doesn't have to worry about the juice running all over her clothing, or how sloppy she gets. She just does her thing in her own way. Happily.
It doesn't have to be elaborate.
I remember when friends invited me over to their house to stargaze. They lived on a property of 7 acres. I arrived at their house at around 10:30pm and outside there were three lawn chairs and blankets. We laid on our backs, stared at the stars and said only a few words. I'd never seen so many shooting stars.
It's the small stuff that makes life magical.
Life is so fleeting. It can go by so fast while we're trying to "arrive" somewhere.
We will "arrive" soon enough.
But in the meantime we can be in our happy place, now.
This week, ask yourself: How can I add more juice to my life? More spirit to my step? What is it that brings me joy?
And then do that. And then do that some more.
And then do that again, tomorrow.
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