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

Morii

Morii (noun) Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows | The desire to capture a fleeting experience.

The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.  – Eminem

“A happening was looming. It was out there somewhere beyond the regular enclosed life that I had been living. It was out there, not waiting, but existing. Being. Perhaps it was only slightly wondering if I would come to it.”
― Markus Zusak

“If we only take a hard look at the facts of life, we will know that, really, nothing is in our hands – not even our hands are in our hands. Just try to hold your hand with your hand and you will know the reality. Really, nothing is in our power. Then what is the meaning of saying ”I” and ”me” and ”mine”? Here everything is happening, and happening together. It is an organic arrangement, an organic whole.”
― Osho

Fleeting – Anushk; Caeli; Pauli; MeRaw; Al; Soye; River; Jennie; LA; paean; shivani; abigail

Vemödalen

 (noun) Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows | The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist.

“The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist — the same sunset, the same waterfall — which can turn a unique subject into something hollow and pulpy and cheap.”

ETYMOLOGY: From the Swedish word vemod which means “tender sadness, pensive melancholy” and then combined with Vemdalen, the name of a Swedish town. Swedish place names are the source of IKEA’s product names — the original metaphor for this idea was that these clichéd photos are a kind of prefabricated furniture that you happen to have built yourself.

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” — Henri Cartier-Bresson

Kathmandu,NepalCape Town S.A from helicopter

Famous Places: Lookoom; Danee; Sidd; pedmar; marta; streets; sarah; crossings; littlemiss; PCOS; roberta; Salsa; Monkeystale

Schwellenangst

Schwellenangst (noun) Origin: German | Fear of crossing a threshold to embark on something new.

ETYMOLOGY: From the German words Schwelle (threshold) + Angst (anxiety).

My dad passed in October and when I saw this word, it brought me back to his passing.  It still causes angst in my heart along with the realization that I have embarked on a new journey.  A journey that will no longer include my father or my mother.

In the U.S. death is viewed with angst, with fear, with trepidation, with not many positive words.  All of these words are true, but more for the living than for the dying.  Even the word passed is a euphemism that makes you think that the threshold is just something you walk through which makes the actual event that much more traumatic (for the living).  Watching someone die is traumatic. Devastating.

The word also brought me back to my time in Nepal.  In Nepal bodies are generally cremated.  They are carried through the street (also generally) and brought to the sacred area where folks sit on one side of a river and 5-9 bodies would be laid to rest on the other side of the river and publicly and openly cremated.  Families would gather on the other side of the river and watch the events.  There would often be food and drink shared and people would come and go from the cremation area.  Anyone could stand and watch or pass through this area.  At first it was super odd to watch but also fascinating.   Kids were playing nearby, monkeys begging for snacks, old people staring into the distance.  Who knows what they were contemplating.  There was sadness of course, but it was an expected event.  Everyone lives and everyone dies.

I actually found it reassuring.  Crossing the threshold is inevitable.  The end is not necessarily the most important part of the journey.  In Nepal, it was a reminder that we are all eventually smoke and ash.  The trick for me is not to be smoke and ash during the years I am passing through right now.  Here’s to the threshold!  Enjoy.

“Life itself means to separate and to be reunited, to change form and condition, to die and to be reborn. It is to act and to cease, to wait and to rest, and then to begin acting again, but in a different way. And there are always new thresholds to cross: the threshold of summer and winter, of season or a year, of a month of a night; the thresholds of birth, adolescence, maturity and old age; the threshold of death and that of the afterlife — for those who believe in it.”
― Arnold van Gennep

Threshold:  Thoughts; Hobbo; blindzanygirl; victoria; purplerays; strangers; heart; compassandcamera; beth; dale; brand; maedharanael; ben; tom; overthinking; shayan; swabby; Yinglan; Ramblings

Day 14 – Orange you glad I’m still here?

“I feel a little dizzy,” said Orion. “But also wonderfully elated. I feel that I am on the verge of finding a rhyme for the word orange.”

“Oxygen deprivation,” said Foaly. “Or maybe it’s just him.”
― Eoin Colfe

Orange is my favorite color.  I do not think orange gets enough attention.  We all know that Orange is the New Black but that is not enough. Orange is a great pun, part of a pivotal knock-knock joke, an impressive part of sunsets.  There are way more than 50 shades of orange.  But no one cares.  No one takes note.  Not any more.  Not on my watch.

Today’s post is dedicated to this very important issue.

What does the color orange mean?

Orange. Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. … In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

In nature it’s the color of vivid sunsets, fire, vegetables, flowers, fish, and many citrus fruits. In our contemporary world, orange is the color of marmalade, Traffic cones, life rafts, cheetos, and Halloween. Orange symbolizes energy, vitality, cheer, excitement, adventure, warmth, and good health.

“Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Orange was a symbol of the glory and fruits of the earth in the early Christian church and was also known as the wisdom ray.

“In my head, the sky is blue, the grass is green and cats are orange.”
― Jim Davis

The canary’s orange colour isn’t a natural thing. Initially, the birds were a green-brown but cross-breeding made them yellow, combine this with a diet of red peppers and they become orange.

“FALLING IN LOVE WITH OCTOBER

Leaves descending to the ground,
Orange, magenta, green & brown
The cool crisp breezes in the air,
Autumn season must be here”
― Charmaine J Forde

Orange has one of the strongest measurable physical effects of any color. Orange stimulates the appetite, increases energy level, and even stimulates the thyroid to boost metabolism. Orange is powerful. We can’t ignore it, which explains why people have such marked reactions to it.

“The orange of the golden carp appeared at the edge of the pond. . . . We watched in silence at the beauty and grandeur of the great fish. Out of the corners of my eyes I saw Cico hold his hand to his breast as the golden carp glided by. Then with a switch of his powerful tail the golden carp disappeared into the shadowy water under the thicket.”
― Rudolfo Anaya

Orange relates to ‘gut reaction’ or our gut instincts, as opposed to the physical reaction of red or the mental reaction of yellow.

The color orange is a very hot color and often provides the sensation of heat. While orange is a common color associated with summer and the hot sun, often associated with being the main color of harvest and autumn due to the changing color of the leaves and pumpkins.

“Meanwhile the sunsets are mad orange fools raging in the gloom….”
― Jack Kerouac

“An orange day, a happy day, a brand-new day in the secret language that only the three of us seemed to understand.
“Mmmmm,” Daddy said, taking a bite of his roll. “Orange wakes you up, but cinnamon makes you remember.”
― Judith Fertig

It’s no surprise that such a powerful color inspires negative associations as well. Orange can be strident and exhausting if it’s overused. Too much orange is overpowering, and a large number of people consider orange their least favorite color. We associate orange with danger, and its attention-getting properties means most designers use it sparingly.

With its enthusiasm for life, the color orange relates to adventure and risk-taking, inspiring physical confidence, competition, and independence. Those inspired by orange are always on the go!

“I am captivated by the beautiful colors of Fall,
Show me,show me,
Show me All!
Orange, yellow, purple, reddish-brown,
And the rustling of the leaves as they fall to the ground.”
― Charmaine J. Forde

“Orange pekoe flavor, with that gold confection dust on the top.” She holds one up to demonstrate. “Mascarpone filling.” She bites it clean in half and shows me the middle. “Rose jelly in the center.”
“Sounds good to me. What shall we call it?”
“I don’t know.”
I reach over and pick up a macaron, the texture, weight, and balance all perfect. Symmetry, lightness, both shells with excellent feet, wedded together with a smooth filling. Nodding with approval, I place it on my tongue. She is right; the orange and rose flavors melt lustily in your mouth. It’s just like Mama- all bright and full of surprises.”
― Hannah Tunnicliffe

Now I ask you again.. ROOOAAARRRRNGE you glad I am still here?

Useless orange facts:

1. Orange is the color between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light.
2. In painting and traditional color theory, it is a secondary color of pigments, created by mixing yellow and red.
3. It is named after the fruit of the same name.
4. In English, the color orange is named after the appearance of the ripe
5. The orange color is one of the carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, oranges, and many other fruits and vegetables.
6. Carotenes are pigments that convert the light energy that the plants absorb from the sun into chemical energy for the plants’ growth.
7. Similarly, the hues of autumn leaves are from the same pigment after chlorophyll is removed.
8. In Europe and America, surveys show that orange is the color most associated with amusement, the unconventional, extroverts, warmth, fire, energy, activity, danger, taste, and aroma.
9. It’s the national color of the Netherlands and the House of Orange.
10. In Asia orange is an important symbolic color of Buddhism and Hinduism
11. In the 18th century, orange was sometimes used to depict the robes of Pomona, the goddess of fruitful abundance.
12. Her name came from the pomon, the Latin word for fruit.
13. Oranges themselves became more common in northern Europe, thanks to the 17th-century invention of the heated greenhouse, a building type that became known as an Orangerie.
14. The French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard depicted an allegorical figure of “inspiration” dressed in orange.
15. In Ukraine in November–December 2004, it became the color of the Orange Revolution, a popular movement which carried activist and reformer Viktor Yushchenko into the presidency.
16. Regarding painting, blue is the complementary color to orange.
17. As many painters of the 19th century discovered, blue and orange reinforce each other.
18. The painter Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo that in his paintings, he was trying to reveal “the oppositions of blue with orange, of red with green, of yellow with violet … trying to make the colors intense and not a harmony of grey”.
19. In Confucianism, the religion and philosophy of ancient China, orange was the color of transformation.
20. In Europe and America, orange and yellow are the colors most associated with amusement, frivolity, and entertainment.
21. It is often used in marketing campaigns to recreate these feelings to potential clients, and consumers.
22. Orange is the color most easily seen in dim light or against the water.
23. This is why it is the color of choice for life rafts, life jackets, or buoys.
24. Highway temporary signs about construction or detours in the United States are orange, because of its visibility and its association with danger.
25. The word orange derives from the Sanskrit naranga and the Persian narang.
26. Naranjas are the oranges in Spanish.
27. The blood used on the set of Sweeney Todd, had to be orange to render properly on the de-saturated color film.
28. Orange was a symbol of the glory and fruits of the earth in the early Christian church.
29. It was also known as the wisdom ray.
30. In Feng Shui orange represents fire. Colors are very significant in the ancient concept.
31. The nobility were the only ones during the Elizabethan Era who could wear orange.
32. Orange is often biblically associated with saints and represents strength and courage.
33. The first operator in Europe to commit to pushing NFC across its territories was the mobile network giant Orange.
34. Orange’s well-known slogan was “the futures bright, the futures orange”.
35. An orange vehicle apparently says you are a fun-loving and trendy person.
36. Frank Sinatra had a love for the color orange, once saying “Orange is the happiest of colors
37. The color of the United States Army Signal Corps is orange.
38. Orange is a very popular color in the world of sport with American football teams including Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, and baseball teams including the San Francisco Giants having their primary color is orange.
39. The fruits’ orange appearance isn’t a common occurrence in other parts of the world.
40. Vietnamese oranges and Thai tangerines are orange on the inside and yet bright green on the outside.
41. The Netherlands soccer team, or ‘Oranje’, play in orange kits.
42. An orange’s skin turns orange as the weather cools but in hotter areas, the chlorophyll stays and the fruit remains green.
43. The canary’s orange color isn’t a natural thing, initially, the birds were a green-brown but cross-breeding made them yellow, combine this with a diet of red peppers and they become orange.
44. Originally carrots weren’t orange.
45. The most common color was purple.
46. The orange variety came about by the 17^th Century when Dutch growers seemingly crossbred white rooted, mutated yellow and wild carrots.
47. Every 25^th day of the month is known as “Orange Day” by the UN’s campaign called UNiTE to End Violence against Women.
48. The day is to raise awareness and act to stop violence against women.
49. Consumer research has proven that an orange lawnmower is easier to find in long grass than a blue one, this was why in 1977 Flymo changed from blue to orange.
50. Orange is the Dutch Royal Family’s color. Descendants of William of Orange, the color became the symbol of the Netherlands.

Orangey: Eliza; meander; arlene; amy; susanne; Bren; JoAnn: Ally; Mike: cordeliasmom; Suhita; stoner