HAPPINESS

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear.

If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.

My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

My actions are my only true belongings.

When mindfulness embraces those we love,

they will bloom like flowers.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering.

Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
(Street Scene)

Without fear, happiness is possible.

(12 minutes)
https://youtu.be/6ykZjPyX6w0

LINKS

Tich Nhat Hanh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh

Plum Village
https://plumvillage.org/

HAPPINESS

"The measure of your life is the amount of beauty and happiness of which you are aware."
Agnes Martin

(thanks to Joanna May)

 These quarters plus a dime = Bus Fare.

They've traveled from Alaska, Florida, Nebraska and Virginia before arriving in my hand

 They carried me to the Zendo for a Sitting

 A Japanese poem by an author I forgot to ask the name of was recited, it may have been Issa, sounds a bit like him, so I will paraphrase...

 'Plum blossoms Fall all around me on my way home'

~*~

LINKS

Issa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Issa

Fifty Poems by Issa
http://www.poemhunter.com/kobayashi-issa/

SUNDAY SUNDOWN

I went to the river 'on a horse with no name-It felt good to be out of the rain' of too many days thick with pain.

There were tug boats, cruisers, sailboats and

one tiny rowboat with two passengers.

I met a woman who glowed.

We talked and became friends.

I was happy.

~*~

https://youtu.be/zSAJ0l4OBHM

HERE'S TO THE LADIES THAT LUNCH

Momentos

Lunch at Mayson Kayser

Squash Soup

(no photo)

Bread and Olive Oil

Great Mixed Greens

Portraits by our Waitress/Photographer

1.

 2.

 3.

Happiness Up Close

Goofin' Around Selfies

 Too serious? Better.

Say tomorrow doesn't come
Say the moon becomes an icy pit.
Say the sweet-gum tree is petrified.
Say the sun’s a foul black tire fire.
Say the owl’s eyes are pinpricks.
Say the raccoon’s a hot tar stain.
Say the shirt’s plastic ditch-litter.
Say the kitchen’s a cow’s corpse.
Say we never get to see it: bright
future, stuck like a bum star, never
coming close, never dazzling.
Say we never meet her. Never him.
Say we spend our last moments staring
at each other, hands knotted together,
clutching the dog, watching the sky burn.
Say, It doesn’t matter. Say, That would be
enough. Say you’d still want this: us alive,
right here, feeling lucky.

~*~

(The Conditional by Ada Limón)

There was no dog
Just us two old friends
Holding hands

Home Again

Tra-La-ha-ha-ha!

~*~

MARKING TIME

In The Northern Hemisphere
Eight more days to Christmas

 Only four more days to Solstice:

 The balance point of dark and light, the shortest day and longest night.  Honored with light, the sun returns.

 

Today also marks the 'beginning of the seven-day celebration of Saturnalia.  Romans made and exchanged gifts, decorated their homes with holly and ropes of garland, and carried wreaths of evergreen branches to honor the god Saturn', but whatever you worship, may you be happy.