Word. Wednesday.

Eudaimonia or eudaemonia (Ancient Greek: εὐδαιμονία [evðaimoˈnia]), sometimes Anglicized as eudemonia ( /juːdəˈmoʊni.ə/), is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness, however "human flourishing" is a more accurate translation.[1] Etymologically, it consists of the word "eu" ("good") and "daimōn" ("spirit").

I love words. Here's one I thought of today, because of Verity's "wabi sabi" post. More on this tomorrow... Hopefully!

All at Once

All at once, if I let it, the world can overwhelm me. The last couple of (blogless) days haven't been too out of the ordinary, but have seemed heavy... Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the loss of the baby birds we've been watching near the house, maybe it the pressure of meeting with a graduate studies program on lunch today, maybe it was me just being me and adding too many things to my plate as usual...and maybe I'm being a big whiner right now :-) Yeah, that's probably it...

Instead of babbling on in Whinese, I'll leave you with a little excerpt I've enjoyed pondering lately about decisions, and envy (connotations of green takes on another facet). This is by Elizabeth Gilbert: "The philosopher Odo Marquad has noted a correlation in the German language between the word zwei, which means "two," and the word zweifel, which means "doubt" - suggesting that two of anything brings the automatic possibility of uncertainty to our lives. Now imagine a life in which every day a person is presented with not two or even three but dozens of choices, and you can begin to grasp why the modern world has become, even with all its advantages, a neurosis-generating machine of the highest order. In a world of such abundant possibility, many of us simply go limp from indecision. Or we derail our life's journey again and again, backing up to try the doors we neglected on the first round, desperate to get it right this time. Or we become compulsive comparers - always measuring our lives against some other person's life, secretly wondering if we should have taken her path instead."

Food for thought? I'll have pictures of real food soon. Promise.

Dimunae Potter

I know this of myself: I get a bit (okay, more than a bit) dramatic after viewing something dramatic. Despite this, I can't shake the feeling of some sad sort of closure. Viewing the last Harry Potter film does not signify the end of an era of my life, nor even the close of a rather long chapter; rather, it feels as though a thread of the tapestry of my life has been *snipped*. Everything comes and goes in it's due time, so I'm surely not devastated. I am glad, though, to have loved that story, and it's part in my life... and think, "What a bloody good time..."

Five Seconds in an Elevator

My grandpa lives in a nursing home on the third floor, and sometimes I find myself alone in the elevator for five seconds or so. It got me to thinking about what people do alone in elevators when they know the door could slide open as soon as the next floor. I'm not talking anything gross here, but I think the answer would have to fall in one of two categories - "picking" or "adjusting". That's all I have tonight... ciao!

I Triple-Dog Dare Ya

Not one to turn down any kind of idea where I needlessly make life more difficult for myself, I have decided to make a blog post each day for the rest of the month. Jump for joy, my three-ish followers! Or, at least, wiggle your little toe in bemusement...

Today also marks the start of another little experiment - a fast of sorts. Although I always knew I was no Scrooge McDuck, I always thought I did okay with money. Er... Not so much. So today began a 21-day spending fast. I am only allowing myself to buy essential items - like gas, and car repairs and doctor appointments as needed. What?, you say, no food? Well folks, I live at home and I've been asserting my independence through my (admittedly somewhat elitist) foodie lifestyle for too long. And the more I buy, even if it is hummus and fancy French cheese and fruit, the more I eat at my desk at work, so this could help with some fitness as well... Yay for leftovers!

The second thing I am experimenting with fasting from is news and/or music. I have become quite accustomed to listening to NPR during my morning commute -I even know where I should be on my journey when the Academic Minute comes on... And I usually turn a bit of light music on as I'm working. I'm frustrated with how muddled my brain feels lately, and instead of blaming it on the heat or my age, I'll try again to simplify... Sense a theme here?

Here goes...

Summer Slacking

When I started this blog, I was determined that I would not feel guilty for not updating it on what I determined to be a "regular" basis. However, it's been creeping on a month that I haven't posted and those guilty feelings are coming on...

The guilty feelings could also come from the purchase of the little gadget I am currently typing this on - a big purchase that I wasn't entirely convinced I needed. Granted, it allows me the mobility to type away at a coffee shop on my lunch break and wade through the way-too-many emails I have - I'm not that popular, I just find it necessary to read and listen to a bunch of lectures (TED Talks mostly).

Anyways, it's got me wondering lately about what drives me to want and want and want... Or what drives the world to do so...is the whole world affected by the crazed addiction of the new and shiny? I want to be a much simpler, much more contented person. I'm working on it - I'm closer than I was before I think... Thanks for letting me spill. Simplify simplify.