Daily Joys and Simple Pleasures

Thomas Merton’s words are traveling with me, daily, all through 2011.  What a great and inspiring companion he is.  I share a page from my personal commonplace book here.  I ask you this – “If you had an appointment with mystery today, where would you meet?”

I had so much fun seeing how my friend, Kathleen, repurposed things in her home.  My husband and I have a few kind of “spendy” bag closures.  No more!  From now it’s clothespin all the way.  I picked these decorated plastic clothespins in a craft store sale bin.  They match my kitchen perfectly.  So fun. …

I pulled the box of mold-made Italian papers from my drawer.  I was writing a letter to a friend and I wanted to make it extra special.  It wasn’t her birthday.  It wasn’t a holiday.  I wasn’t celebrating anything in particular except that I was so happy to have her as  a friend.  That’s a…

“Crazy busy,” is a frequently used phrase in the social media “status” bar.  It seems like nearly everyone is zipping and moving faster than ever before.  Rather than a letter taking days to arrive at our friend’s doorstep, there is an INSTANT message.  And it seems so much of the items knocking on the door…

Did you laugh and say, “What resolutions?” If you are trying to remember what your resolutions WERE at the start of the year…no worries.  I have great news:  tonight at midnight it moves from Today into Tomorrow.  We could even make a case that tomorrow COULD begin a whole new year.  Your start of something…

Each room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility. I love going home!   I love being home.  I consider my home a sanctuary and a wonderful place to restore and renew and rest.  While I cannot once every recall being called a domestic goddess by anyone…I do consider the opportunity to do housework…

I suppose my husband is used to me telling stories about him by now. He’s a good sport.  He is a broadly accomplished man.  In other times he would have been called a renaissance man.  A fine artist who makes an art of repairing an engine.  Understanding the weather.  Recognizing birds from great distances.  Oh. …

I’ll be the first to admit that there were a lot of actions that Goldilocks chose that I can’t stand to defend.  But I DID learn a lot from Goldilocks about discernment and balance.  She was not a girl that consistently said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter.”  The girl had a vision for what was “just…

I was delighted to observe, just the other day, that on the day I was painfully aware and taken up with the news of the day…I started singing.  I didn’t consciously select a song to sing.  It was my spirit’s response to my compassion and concern for people to whom harm had been brought.  In…

…you hold the hand of the world.”  That’s from LIVE WITH INTENTION.  Appreciating my friends is one of my ten main life intentions.  Recently I read that Sophie Tucker, the singer from the early 20th century who was called “The Last of the Red Hot Mama’s” said, “The secret to success in show business is…

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