Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia (noun) Origin: Greek | U·de·‘mOn·E·a  The contented happy state you feel when you travel.

“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
― Dale Carnegie

When I travel, I am able to stop thinking about myself. I am able to remove myself from the daily grind.  All thoughts of work, stress, anxiety, irritations, etc. fly out the window.

I feel happy walking anonymously through cities and the countryside.  Watching people, talking to strangers, viewing normal folks doing normal things. 

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” –Mark Twain

I love imagining what they are thinking and how they got to where they are.  I love even more the realization that no matter where I am, I am no different than the people I meet are in regards to the basics of life.  

My to-do list for today:
– Count my blessings
– Practice kindness
– Let go of what I can’t control
– Listen to my heart
– Be productive yet calm
– Just breathe

These things make me happy.  These things put everything in my world back into perspective and help me balance myself. I let go of my expectations on others, but even more importantly, I let go of the expectations I have put upon myself.  Traveling is how I learn to breathe again.

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

contented travelers: tgeriatrix; salwa; aletta; sustainabilitea; sue; chris; rarasaur; nancy; woollymuses; david; coreen; cauldrons

Vagary

Vagary (n.) – Origin: Latin – Definition: An unpredictable instance, a wandering journey; a whimsical, wild or unusual idea, desire, or action.

I began to realize that life, despite moments of happiness and joy, is really about discovering priorities and dealing with unforeseen vagaries, differences, obstacles, inconveniences, and imperfections. – Maureen McCormick

Random bike ride in Nepal.  Sometimes a random walk, or bike ride, or any non-work-related activity is what is needed to re-center your focus on what is important.  Just breathe.

“Let it rain on some days,
Let yourself shiver on some cold nights,
So when it’s Spring you’ll know why it was all worth going through.”
― Sanhita Baruah

vagaries: memadtwo; pvcann;  baruah; paean; rashmi; adirondack; dale; drabble; bruce; shalini   

Happy Papa Day

Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that’s why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right. Wade Boggs

When I was about 26, I found out the dad I grew up with was not my biological father.  Everyone thought I would freak out.  They freaked out.  Every single person in my family seemed to know this already.  Unbeknownst to me, I had so many people trying to solve this 26 year long mystery for me. They spent months trying to get to the bottom of it.

What they did not know is that I WAS shocked.  But not in the way they might have realized.  I was shocked that everyone in my family had kept a secret for 26 years.  My family has never been good at not blathering on about everything, every place and everyone they knew.  I WAS freaking out.. but only because I thought it would be so cool to have more siblings. I always wanted to come from a gigantic family.  Think Partridge Family or Brady Bunch.. I could start a band or..uh.. travel across the states and get into ridiculous escapades..well maybe not.. but I thought it would be cool.

More than anything I was amazed.  Amazed that the dad I grew up with, knew he was not my biological father and wanted to keep that a secret from me in order to avoid hurting me.  I never doubted for a second that he loved each of us deeply and without pause and as his own children.

He used to tell me I was his favorite.  I had his sense of humor, his walk, his work ethics.  I worshipped him.  I still do.  He was a steady beacon of light on the shore of a wild sea of women.  He was dependable, funny, and strong.  He was my dad, my papa, the man to whom all other men would need to aspire to win my heart.  I love you dad!!

Without my dad, I wouldn’t be here. Maria Sharapova

My Dad is my hero. Harry Connick, Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

An Open Letter To Donald Trump From Some Angry Women.

I have not been saying much here.. why start now… when this pretty much says it all.

Drifting Through

Dear Mr. Trump… can I call you Mr. Trump? Is that ok? I want you to be happy, that’s very important to me.

Before I get started, let me say this letter isn’t from all women. The Trumpettes surely won’t approve of this message. But this is from most women.

We see right through you. We have all known you at some point. Your ways are not unfamiliar to us. We see through you because we’ve been dealing with you our whole lives.

We heard you call women pigs. And disgusting. And stupid. And bimbos.

We watched as you called a former Ms. Universe “Ms. Piggy” and then spent four days continuing to insult her.

We see your weakness. Your lust for attention at any cost, your need to denigrate women. We see all of it. And we’re mad.

Yes. We’re mad. And fired up. And here’s the thing about us……

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Freedom

freedom     ˈfriːdəm/    noun

1. 1.

   the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.

“Because to take away a man’s freedom of choice, even his freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as though he were a puppet and not a person.”
― Madeleine L’Engle

Kapadokya, Goreme, Turkey. – In the fight to choose their own religion, many escaping Christians chose to carve out shelters, houses and churches in the naturally formed canyon hills and unusual rock formations that were created by strong winds, flood waters and lava flows.

Throughout the region, these places were carved and shaped and turned into villages and religious sites..  Pretty amazing.

On top of the amazing places to hike and visit, many hotels in town have carved out rooms to sleep in and it’s all quite beautiful.

Other posts about freedom:

• Lellie Put
• Oh the places
• Jennifer
• Le Drake
• PDJpix
• Black Panty
• The Day After
• Middleton Rd
• Jenny’s otherstuff
• Shootngo
• Gypsy Life
• Leya
• WindAgainstCurrent