An Impossible Poem

Throughout my whole life and all the, likely, hundreds of poems I've crafted, there really is only one I love entirely, that I feel proud to call mine. A terrible poem though is easy to create as long as it rhymes; and I write those constantly, often without even thinking about it. Rhymes come easy. Non-rhyming however does not, and I have found that scribing a poem – good or bad - without that sing song quality is just about downright impossible. Today’s poem is an attempt at that impossible...

'This can't

be all there is', I say,

on days life seems to be

falling backwards in

to the superficial

mundane.

 

I dream, those days,

of simple woods; fields

of wild untouched

berries; of mountains laced

in violet flowers - the kind

that I can fall into

forever 

 

 

 

~~~~

 

 

 

 

Furiously Happy - the List Version

“I’m thinking of making my own list of things that make me furiously happy” a co-worker (and one of my favorite people ever) said over the phone a couple weeks ago. She had taken me up on my advice to read “Furiously Happy” by Jenny Lawson and loved it. I was thrilled; finally I had someone who truly understood just how awesome this book was, someone I could share my delight  and excitement with. Our several impromptu hallway conversations about stuffed raccoons, giraffes, Spoon Theories, and Pegasus’s left us laughing while other peers walked by slightly with slightly perplexed looks on their faces. The book inspired her idea to create a ‘Furiously Happy’ list; I though it was brilliant plan, decided I need one of my own and immediately set off to write it.

My list is made up mostly of things I've done/experienced. There are a couple that have not yet crossed my life’s path but I’m  99.9999% certain they would enrich my life in countless happy ways. Then there are a few which are so open ended they could really be applied to anything so you might say I’ve done them but maybe not just as fully as possible. Creating the list was easy, I knew exactly what needed to be there; however, after it was complete I realized that I haven’t really been living it. I mean sure, a really literal person could argue that I do every day by drinking coffee, playing with Faelina and daydreaming that I live at Hogwarts. But doing just a few things every day doesn’t make up for me not trying out any of the others ever. I mentioned in my last Furiously Happy post that I’ve had the past few months I’ve had a really hard time feeling truly happy; perhaps that’s because I haven’t been living life in a way that’s true to myself. So here’s my list. Now it’s up to me to go live it.

 

 

1.       Midnight hikes

2.       Nighttime swims in the ocean, rivers and/or lakes – clothing optional

3.       Coffee

4.       Kittens

5.       Furiously Happy – the book

6.       All things Harry Potter

7.       Challenging dumb social norms

8.       Not caring what others think

9.       Seeing my nephews

10.   Surprises – both giving and receiving them

11.   Pulling an all-nighter just because

12.   Committing anonymous acts of kindness for others

13.   Leaving anonymous secret letters for people to find

14.   Solo vacations

15.   Dressing like a faery, princess, mermaid, gypsy or combination of all four

16.   LIVING like a faery, princess, mermaid, gypsy or combination of all four

17.   Spontaneous Adventures

18.   Searching for magic

19.   Throwing caution to the wind

20.   Giving into the wildness of Mother Nature

21.   Dancing under the full moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poem

 

I was at work deep in admission mundanity (yes I know that was not a word, it is now) when suddenly this poem dropped into my thoughts. It was completely unbidden, I have no idea where it came from. It's dark which I find a bit odd because I've been (surprisingly) light hearted this past week; I have been watching a lot of Game of Thrones though so perhaps that was inspiration enough to my subconscious. Anyways here it is...

Sunlight drips with topaz poison

Shards of fire beneath white snow

No idle threat will be forgiven

No tiny breath can be let go

 

Oh Earth this madness, how did we get here

When did our heaven become hell
I'd sell my soul to know this answer
but Time's great secret it will not tell




~~~~




 

Come Happy, Go Happy

 

In Iceland, people greet each other with “komdu sæll” meaning ‘come happy’ and part ways by saying “vertu sæll” which is ‘go happy’.

I learned this while reading “The Geography of Bliss, One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World”. In it journalist Eric Weiner chronicles his travels through countries that have been noted for their high levels of happiness (or unhappiness), trying to figure out just what gives their people so much joy, what causes them to feel blue, and how that differs from America. Reading this book has been incredibly delightful and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my visits to Switzerland, Bhutan, and Great Britain to name a few. The country that stole my heart most though was Iceland, that frozen beauty up north.

 Miami based Weiner suffered an understandable shock upon landing there in January (he did have a logical reason for going that time of year), on the other hand I found his descriptions of the hard ice, cold snow and permanent darkness to be perfectly fantastic and exactly the way life should be. Weiner’s time there introduced me to so many wondrous aspects of Icelandic culture (wild connections with nature, an obsession of books, believing in elves) that I began to feel a very strong desire to move there, now (seriously, any ideas on what I could do for a job?). And I just love how the native language plays such an important role in bringing happiness to the people, particularly their versions of hello and goodbye. So while I may not be moving to Iceland (yet) I am going to start adopting the practice of “komdu sæll” and "vertu sæll", as I think doing so will go quite far on my own quest to find happiness.

So until next time vertu sæll, go happy.

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