Whenever I feel like my life does not measure up (whatever that means), or that I need to somehow "do more" (whatever that means), I find myself leaning into this little poem, and feeling better: "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To […]
“The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy.” (Herman Hesse, 1877 - 1962) Thus, the joyless country we seem to be living in right now. All of our hurry-hurry has left us bereft of the […]
The best reason to take your time is that this time is the only time you'll ever have. You must take it, or it will be taken from you. It is telling that the phrase 'taking your time' is synonymous with slowing down. It we want to live fully, we do best to slow down. […]
A test: try living the life of a good person and see how it suits you. Be the one happy with her fate, rejoicing in his acts of justice, and bent on deeds of kindness. (Marcus Aurelius, 121-180)
A year ago I was walking the ancient pilgrimage called the Camino de Santiago. I was in northern Spain with some of my closest friends and a gracious Spanish guide named Javi. The second or third day of the journey Javi urged me to take my shoes and socks off and walk part of the […]
Wake up and roll out of bed … Hug the husband, Start the coffee, Make the bed, Water the garden, Empty the dishwasher, Take out the trash, Scrabble together some lunch. Morning chores … mundane, monotonous; the ordinary stuff of our ordinary days. Necessary jobs using up (wasting?) our precious time. The boring by-products of […]
