Making Sunshine
When it's gray outside you sometimes have to make your own sunshine. I brought home these flowers on Thursday afternoon and arranged them casually in a vintage French enamel creamer from a flea market on my table... when I walked over to my table this morning to put some milk into my tea, I noticed how beautifully they had opened. Spring is in my home today though it seems very far away on the other side of my window.
Drizzle and gray skies create a relaxing mood outdoors, I see chimneys working hard to keep their owners warm and cozy (it's been a very gray month) and the tree branches are still visible, undressed, not yet ready to deck out for Spring's party.
You really do have to make your own sunshine and this applies to so much in life, doesn't it? We're not always handed golden rays of opportunity (rarely this is true) or shiny moments of success (nothing is for free) and so off we go -- on a hunt to seek beauty, truth, righteousness and to create an opportunity, some success and a smattering of joy for ourselves and our dear families.
We are hunters, gatherers and creators - what we hunt and gather is the starting point, but the willingness to work hard, to create, to put care and thought into our life won't happen unless we make it happen.
Living abroad gives me more time to think about the everyday connections that each tiny piece of our life makes, one to the other, and how it's not the fast, the smart, the rich or the best who have a good life, it is the person who believes they have a good life. It is the person who deeply appreciates what they have, and who is happy with what they've been given and while we all want better things -- being happy with the food before us on our plate is how we can create sunshine even on the grayest of days.
He who enjoys today and thinks a little bit about tomorrow, not with worry or fear, but with hope, wins. The person who has the ability to look beyond the gray skies to the sun, which is out there still awaiting its grand entrance, is the richest and most successful man on earth.
(image: holly becker)
Drizzle and gray skies create a relaxing mood outdoors, I see chimneys working hard to keep their owners warm and cozy (it's been a very gray month) and the tree branches are still visible, undressed, not yet ready to deck out for Spring's party.
You really do have to make your own sunshine and this applies to so much in life, doesn't it? We're not always handed golden rays of opportunity (rarely this is true) or shiny moments of success (nothing is for free) and so off we go -- on a hunt to seek beauty, truth, righteousness and to create an opportunity, some success and a smattering of joy for ourselves and our dear families.
We are hunters, gatherers and creators - what we hunt and gather is the starting point, but the willingness to work hard, to create, to put care and thought into our life won't happen unless we make it happen.
Living abroad gives me more time to think about the everyday connections that each tiny piece of our life makes, one to the other, and how it's not the fast, the smart, the rich or the best who have a good life, it is the person who believes they have a good life. It is the person who deeply appreciates what they have, and who is happy with what they've been given and while we all want better things -- being happy with the food before us on our plate is how we can create sunshine even on the grayest of days.
He who enjoys today and thinks a little bit about tomorrow, not with worry or fear, but with hope, wins. The person who has the ability to look beyond the gray skies to the sun, which is out there still awaiting its grand entrance, is the richest and most successful man on earth.
(image: holly becker)
Comments
xo
Melis
Here's the rest of the post: http://www.econesting.com/2011/01/21/snow-white-morning/
I love this post -- especially the part about seeking beauty, truth and joy; and being thankful for what we have been given.
And the flowers are beautiful too!
Thanks for blogging
Greetings from there!
this is what we love about you. your uncanny ability to turn a frown upside down. i remember you saying that was one of the things you liked about yourself... your ability to put yourself in a better mood. im amazed by this and have always considered myself a prisoner to that around me. good or bad.
i watched this TED video last night and immediately thought of you. she talks about people who seem to have real Joy (she named them "wholehearted") these people were open to all emotions. not numbing all emotions and therefore escaping from true Joy.
you are one of those.. a true wholehearted soul. im glad I know you so I can believe it can be true.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
All things nice...
x
Connie
Jasmin from Australia (Happy Australia Day)
You have a beautiful gift in your writing, and the thoughts and feelings expressed evidently come from the wisdom of a special heart. Thank you for the encouragement.
I love both of your blogs, but I really enjoy coming to Haus Maus for inspiration and to learn more about your day to day life. xo
virginia
I've been a hppy reader of your blog for a while now, but confess to being a little too nervous to comment.
But, today I felt compelled because your post is so inspirational. Your words ring so true for me, especially given that I'm in a big transition period. When it's grey outside and there is so much to do, it often seems like everything is working against you.
Thank you for helping me seek the sunshine and embrace it as my own.
:)