Living Happiness

It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky… a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe. ~Victor Hugo

I live with a man who is a creature of habit. Each day he arises and pours himself a glass of water. He sits at the kitchen table, slowly sipping and waking up. Then it’s time for breakfast. Breakfast is a treat: eggs with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and feta. This is followed by a mug of tea.

And so the day goes.

I know I have my rituals, too. I wake up each morning and turn on the computer in the spare room (it takes ten minutes to boot). I walk down the hallway and into our front rooms and open the house: swing back shutters, secure windows, let the light in. As I’m doing this, the little brown kitty I’ve been feeding stands up and stretches and waits for me on the back welcome mat. I turn on the kettle and then pour some cat food in a little tin. I walk her out to the edge of the yard to where her dish is waiting … along with the two other cats who’ve figured out morning time is feeding time. I leave them to it and come inside and steep my tea – sometimes English breakfast, sometimes rose peach – then I sit and sip and slowly wake up too.

I am a big fan of rituals. I think of them as the pegs I can hang my thoughts and ideas on, the markers for my beliefs. Sometimes they represent something greater than me – a remembering of something, even a mirroring of what I would like to be. Other times they are simply comfort, a familiar thing I can wrap around me when the world seems cold.

In my own way, I feel they connect me to eternity.

It can be easy, though, for our rituals to take the place of our gods, for our moments of eternity to be reduced to finite markers of what we have or want to achieve. When this happens, rituals are no longer the infinity of the soul interacting with the infinity of the universe.

How do you honor ritual in your life?

How do you allow your soul to regularly interact with infinity?

Your comments today are welcome.

Namaste and peace,

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Photo Credit bigbluemeanie

On this bright and beautiful Tuesday in June I am writing to you from my little desk in my little bedroom in my very hot house in Crete. It has been a few days since you last heard from me and all about my room for improvement. Now it’s five days later and this is the first chance I’ve had to get back again to all of you. Doesn’t life get crazy like that?

Today my offering is nothing more than a little catch-up, a bit of what’s going on with Chania Girl in her corner of the world. I hope you don’t mind. Maybe think of it as our virtual coffee together.

My news (in no order of importance) is as follows:

Operation Become a Bronze Goddess (Summer #2) has begun. Thanks to a lovely friend of mine, I have been given two weeks worth of meal plans to kick start my body and my mind into a healthier way of eating. I got moving in Week 1 last week and already feel much cleaner inside and out … and I’ve dropped a kilo or two, too! It feels good to eat often and well.

We’re Off to See the Wizard. G and I have made our decision and will be moving to Oz. Last week saw me saving and printing off all the forms (of which there are a gazillion). This morning saw us getting passport photos made and criminal background checks requested. So we are on the yellow brick road and, if all goes well, should be entering Oz sometime around Christmas, give or take a little. Now, if I only had a brain … a heart … some courage … .

I Am a Football Widow. The World Cup has begun and my otherwise attentive husband has now abandoned me for his other love: the football. He has not shaved for a week. He doesn’t plan to do so for another month. His favorite outfit is an old t-shirt and faded shorts. I still hear the vuvuzelas (blaring horns) in my dreams at night. And there are still three more weeks to go!

School’s (NOT) Out for Summer. Just as I packed off my high school Greek students for a summer of sand and sea, I got to begin two new online courses – woohoo! (Insert sarcasm here.) But what am I complaining about? I can still show up and teach in my jammies or, as the case may be, in my swimsuit, and none of my students are any the wiser … unless, of course, they’re reading this blog. Hmmmm. Maybe not good idea to mention the jammies … or the swimsuit.

What about you?

What is your news?

What have you been up to lately?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Namaste,

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Photo Credit [*Noretta]