This morning I took a book and a cup of tea and went out on the deck to sip, swing, read, and daydream.
This Is My Happy Place
where I soak in the beauty of the day, feel the soft breeze on my skin, smell the soft scents of early summer, and listen to the sounds of nature all around me. The time I spend on the deck is a deliberate search for enchantment, seeking to see and experience what is right with the world, not the many wrongs and terrors that could fill my thoughts.
Our mental universe (which contains all we know, feel or are afraid of in the real world we live in) may be enchanting, happy, tragic, comic, etc.
We are capable of transforming it and giving it a charm which makes life more valuable. More valuable since life becomes more joyful, thanks to the extraordinary effort needed to create this charm.
Life is wasted when we make it more terrifying, precisely because it is so easy to do so. It is an easy task, because people who are intellectually lazy are convinced that this miserable terror is “the truth”, that this terror is knowledge of the “extra-mental” world. This is an easy way out, resulting in a banal explanation of the world as terrifying.
Creating enchantment is an effective means of counteracting this depressing, banal habit.
[…]
We must go in search of enchantment.
— René Magritte
The deck swing that we bought many years ago is my transport to the world of enchantment.
An Unexpected Blessing
I had no idea that this simple swing would become such a valued part of my life. Sometimes I prop a couple of large pillows on one of the swing arms and I lie down with a good book swinging gently.
I’ve noticed recently that I’ve been feeling more pessimistic about what lies in the future for our children and grandchildren. And sometimes I even feel glad that I won’t live into that imagined future. But then I think back to when I was a younger adult hearing my elders saying similar things about the direction the world was going.
I don’t want to be one of those naysayers who thinks the world is going to hell in a hand basket. We do face challenges as humanity has faced challenges over the eons. There are many things in life I cannot comprehend fully. Some of those things are greed, the desire for power over others, judging others because they are different, and deliberately doing things that hurt others for nothing more than power or wealth.
So I spend time in nature, read, make photographs, and write. I spend less time listening to news programs and forecasts of the doom we may face from the AI or climate change or any other catastrophe that is currently being predicted.
If you are struggling or feeling worry about the future I hope that you can take some time in nature to simply soak in it’s beauty and the miracle of being alive. Experiencing joy, love, beauty, and appreciation are a good way to give back a little bit of grace to the world.
Do you have a place where you can say, “This is my happy place?”
May you walk in beauty.
Note: Photos from my deck, backyard, and the park path beside our home.
0 Comments