Completion

Completion makes me nervous. I like things to be open. In process. That makes me a P in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I've been thinking about this for the last few hours as I've been preparing to write the one hundredth post for my summer writing project, the last one. 

I'm not sure that I like endings, even when they're endings I want. There's space created that feels uncomfortable, at least initially. This statement feels counterintuitive to my P preference. The space. Perhaps it is simply the paradox of the circumstance. Endings create space. 

I may take my time to explore the possibilities before I begin to fill the space created by this ending. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing project that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

 

The Writing Has Gone Missing

And it's heartbreaking.

I'd written four paragraphs and was coming to the natural conclusion. My finger hit something as they flew across the keyboard - I've no idea what - and the whole page of text disappeared. I went to hit control Z and, too late, noticed I'd hit shift Z. So it's gone. And I've no way to recreate it. I tried. 

Have you ever been in the zone of writing and suddenly what you've written disappears? 

It was not carefully crafted, but whimsically stream of consciousness, an ode to the end of a 20-year war and a question about how we have been shaped by war as a lifestyle. 

Today's lesson is in letting go. In not grieving over disappearing text and writing that cannot be recaptured. This is the danger with writing of any kind. Computers fail, paper burns, stories disintegrate. Nothing is sure or certain or completely secure. 

I learned this lesson from the associate publisher of my college newspaper after a copy editor mangled my review of a jazz pianist. She did not understand what I was writing or was working too quickly to care, thought she needed to change something, and made me look like I didn't understand what I was writing about. I was furious. Embarrassed by how I'd been made to look. Challenged the copy desk chief and suggested that copy editors should stay in their lane. The associate publisher told me to stop being a self-righteous reporter, that my copy is not God.  

My copy may not be God, but there is no reason why it cannot be excellent. 

The next semester, I was named Arts and Entertainment Editor and succeeded in being able to change policy so I could sit with the copy editor when my section went to them, and had the authority to approve or reject changes. It is specialized reporting, after all, and the experience I'd had as a music writer was not the first incident of mangled copy. It was a positive change that continued going forward.

I've been working on a piece of writing since March, short fiction, and the story has stalled. I'm not sure where it is going next. The air went out of the project in May when I learned of the death of a close friend. There are threads of loss, grief, transition, and remaking life that are weaving themselves together in the story, and being plunged into fresh loss and grief took me out of the story and set me into another, one I am living rather than writing. 

But as I think about it, the only thing I've lost is a timetable. Maybe. It could be I've lost the story too, that it disintegrated before being finished, or that it may transform into something different, or that it's taken a winding detour through a dark wood where I cannot see three steps ahead. 

Creation is not absolute. What is created takes on life at some point, and life tends to decide what comes next, not the creator. We don't always have control. And, usually, we have a lot less control than we'd like to think we have. So sometimes the writing goes missing, stories fall apart, projects lose their air. We step on a path, only to discover at some point the path ends suddenly or splits into two, four, or endless directions.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

  

Sweeping Up the Bits

People are so funny.

I'm taking a week for some vacation time and have been working to sweep together any loose bits that need to be addressed before I go. Thought I had that finished this afternoon after a phone meeting with another pastor to talk about combining our Confirmation programs this year since we both have low numbers of students. It happens every now and then, especially after some of the larger classes, which we both are confirming this year. 

Set up my email away message and sat down to watch a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey. They've been showing them on Sunday afternoons for the last couple of months. We just tied up season 5 today. 

I had a date with a book late in the afternoon and lay down on my bed to read. Slept instead. Looks like the crash hit me sooner than I expected. I'd wanted to read in the afternoon because I'm reading Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, and I suspect pre-bedtime reading is ill advised.  

Checked my email at 9:30 this evening for anything that needed my attention before I go offline for a week and a few days, and there was a big request accompanied by the hope that my actual vacation doesn't begin until midnight tonight.

People are so funny.

Looks like her wish came true. I handled the request, got things set up via email, copied everyone who needed to be copied, forwarded the things than needed to be forwarded, and added a little note to the person who sent the email that I trust that this will address this.

It did. I just heard a ping from my email service and it was her thank you. 10:10 and vacation begins. As soon as I power down the laptop and drink a glass of spring water with the intention to allow work to flow away for a time and allow relaxation to flow through me. 

I notice there are two more days to this summer writing practice. How extraordinary that 100 days of happiness will have passed through my consciousness. Happiness does not look the same in every moment, but in every moment, no matter what else is going on we can cultivate happiness as we remember how fortunate we are and that a single challenging moment does not contain the whole of our experience. I remain grateful for meaningful work, interests that expand me, family and friendships that fill my life with love and connection, and financial abundance that enables me to live well materially. That's the big picture. What flows through all that are like branches, or tree limbs, that are carried by the river.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

  

Home Again, Again

I try to stretch visits with Mom to the last minute. There's a long drive and it's always strange to unlock the door to my apartment after leaving her house. This evening there were emails to catch up on and situations to manage at the church, things to get done in the 36 hours I'm home before taking off for some vacation time. I'm often stunned at how seamlessly I am able to handle things when I am direct and focused. 

Pretty sure that on Monday morning I'm going to collapse, probably have a headache, and just let down.   

I've been ambivalent about going away. I know it will be good for me, but I am also aware of the many things I need to do around the house and the life details I need to handle that have been on the back burner with starting a new church and various family matters. I've stretched the decision about going away to the last minute. 

Normally, it would be easy. I'd plan a trip and hop on a plane. These days I'm staying away from airports and not getting on planes. I'm not crazy about straying too far from home. I feel spooked by reports about the dwindling effectiveness of the Covid vaccines and the escalating cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. I waited to be able to trust the easing of Covid after the vaccines became available and feel like I've missed the window to travel. I'm reading now that there was a travel sweet spot in June and July that it is now over, and we are back in a time to be very cautious.

So, I'm home again. And wondering how long this latest surge will last and whether we'll be able to create some safety and stability again.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

Beautiful and Delicious

Today was all about homey things with my mother. We made good food, ran some errands, sat around and talked. Ate that good food. I've been visiting more frequently for shorter visits. Lately, Mom's been finding fabulous cuts of meat, and this time she stumbled into a "cote de boeuf."  It's known by a more popular name, but in the interest of cultural sensitivity I use one of the alternative names for this cut. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it ~

A highly marbled, and exquisitely tender and flavorful steak . . . 

It was an interesting experience to prepare this beautiful piece of meat. How to prepare it and draw out all the wonder and flavor of it? It's easy to ruin a beautiful steak. It's not difficult to prepare a beautiful steak. 

This one was probably three inches thick, with the long rib bone attached. Mom mentioned that the butcher would not cut the bone from the steak and suggested I do that before cooking it. I trusted the wisdom of the butcher in this. 

Mom has a ridged grill pan and the steak fit diagonally on it. I figured four to six minutes, medium to medium-high heat, on each side and then twelve minutes in a 375 degree oven. It was perfect. Before grilling, I pressed salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil into the meat after having brought the steak to room temperature. At the end of each grilling on the stovetop, I turned the steak 180 degrees to get a cross-hatch grill mark pattern. After the steak came out of the oven I put about a teaspoon or so of butter with a bit more thyme and let it melt while the steak sat for ten minutes on the pan before I sliced it. It was perfectly rare.   

We had it with a beautiful salad of butter lettuce, avocado, cucumber, and grape tomatoes. Poppyseed dressing. The rest of my bottle of Tempranillo. Beautiful and delicious. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

  

Reading the River

Before heading out today, I walked around the property and discovered we'd been visited by a bear last night. The heavy lid of the wooden trash box was thrown open and a heavy trash bag had been dragged out to the road.  

The road winds down the mountainside through sun-dappled forests and ends near the river. A sandy beach with pebbles marks the threshold between forest and water. It's a beautiful place to sit and read the river. A between place. 

The little town I usually visit when I'm in the area was closed today. Most shops had signs saying they're open on the weekends and at other times by appointment. So I visited another small town I'd heard about from a friend. There's a small bookshop there owned by the author Nora Roberts. I've never seen a bookshop dedicated practically to one author. Her books were displayed prominently on most shelf displays. I don't think I'd realized how prolific a writer she is, both in her own name and under her pseudonym JD Robb. I've never read her work. I came home with an Ursula K. Le Guin title. 

It's not lost on me that Ursula comes from the Latin ursa. Bear.

  

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

 

One Perfect Day

Three days away for reading and retreat yields one perfect day. No screens, no television, no news of the outside world ~ just the susurration of the wind in the trees and of deer foraging on the ground. There was a doe with three older fawns in the morning, and later in the day a pair of does grazed just beyond the screened porch on which I sat. There were birds in flight and birds singing; chipmunks scurried on the ground, stopping only to look around for a strange sound. That was probably me. 

I came to read, and for much of the morning I read the nature around me. Listened. Watched. Caught smells on the air, the feel of the breeze on my skin. In the afternoon I read books. Three of them. Finished one, got a good start on the others. I left one on the porch and two in other places around the cabin. I moved from place to place and picked up what was there and read another chapter. 

The evening winds down. Dinner has long been eaten and the dishes washed. I've packed a few things since I check out at Noon. I have the whole morning before I have to go and will spend time reading the river after I drive down the mountain to get the road back to town. I'll take that road back up the mountain to the top of the ridge before going back down the mountain to spend some time in the artsy little town in the valley. The road winds lazily in some places, sharply in others. 

Days like today seem to stretch out forever. Stillness flows into timelessness. Connecting with the breath, a sense of forever in a single moment. I promise myself that I will carry this into tomorrow, so that there is no rush, no frenzied packing and loading and moving from one thing to the next. Seamless movement of one moment flowing into another. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

  

Arriving

It's a tiny cabin in the woods on the side of a mountain. I drove three and a half hours to get here on highways, large and small, and roads that wound up to the top of a ridge and then back down again into the valley, across a river or two or three and down a gravel road or two. The directions said things like, "Look for these landmarks," and "don't use your GPS." 

Yikes. 

But I'm here and the insects are singing in the darkness and the internet is spotty and the wine is a beautiful Tempranillo, Rioja. A bath with Epsom salts is calling. Flickering candlelight supplements soft lamplight. 

My ritual upon arriving is to unpack and set up before I do anything else. While looking out the kitchen window, my attention was caught by a tiny wren perched on the deck rail, welcoming me. He stayed and sang a bit, a tiny song in a tiny moment of wonder.  

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

   

Anticipation

The dulcet sounds of Carly Simon are ringing in my head. 

I take off in the morning for a couple of days in the mountains of West Virginia to clear my head. I have just about everything packed and a few things are already in the car. In the morning all I need to do is pack the cooler, finish loading the car, get gas and get going. 

There's something about the drive that will feel like moving slowly across a threshold. On the other side everything will be different. Especially the view. Every now and then we need to see through a different lens. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. .  

The Home Stretch

Ten more days to goal.

But it's so much easier to start than it is to finish.

Why is that?

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

Listen to the Hand

I'm between things today.

And there's nothing coming forward that wants to be written. I'm tempted simply to let things rest. Most of what I tried to accomplish today was confounded. I managed a few small things around the house, but anything bigger than that was met with outside circumstances that looked like a hand raised before me. With an outward-facing palm. 

So I stopped. 

There may be something that wants to be noticed.   

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

Bones and Scraps

Bones and scraps and the dregs of the day. Here I am at 10-something, just beginning to write. Friday is a dedicated day off and time to rest is welcome. My activities are restorative - reading, talking with friends, cooking. Today it was broth. Bones and scraps and filtered water go in the pot with herbs and spices and a few tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar. It boils, then simmers for an entire day. The ingredients come undone and something new is created. The last streams of golden liquid drain through a fine mesh strainer. Most of it is in a large Ball jar already. Overnight, any fat will rise to the surface and harden. In the morning I'll take it off and the broth will be ready to drink. This batch is beautifully seasoned. I think I'll drink it like a tonic.

A few years ago I made broth religiously and drank it several times a day. My daughter called it my "meat tea." The memory makes me smile. It's a rarer treat for me in the summer. I don't like to have the stove on and fill the house with heat. But today the happiness factor outweighs the heat. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.   

Time for a News Fast

The ABC evening news always ends with something positive or uplifting. I love that about the broadcast. But this evening I have no idea what that snippet of good news was. Between Afghanistan and Haiti, and the Delta variant and its companion foolishness vis a vis some of the responses by people who don't seem to get that there's a global pandemic going on that's stressing the hospital systems and sickening and killing people, and spreading like wild fire again, I'm burned out around hearing what's going on in the world. It's definitely lowering my happiness quotient. 

I'm not sure it's good for us to have a steady diet of all the world's suffering. I'm certainly not suggesting that we ignore what's going on around us. But there comes a point when we become saturated and we need to step away. I think of the mass of crowds that Jesus healed and attended to during his life, and his need to step away from time to time to recollect himself before meeting the vast human need that called to him. That facet of the stories has always captured my attention. The wisdom of not allowing ourselves to be devoured. 

FB recently changed how pages work on its platform. My author page, Awakened Spirit, now has its own newsfeed in addition to its main page. I haven't spent a lot of time there, but one thing I've noticed is that there is nothing from the Washington Post or the New York Times or The Guardian or any other news outlet. It's all love and light. I'm thinking I might spend a little time there over the next couple of days, or put my nose into a new book I bought the other day, one that I've wanted to get for a long time but did not come across in the bookstore until recently. Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee. She's got the best Ted Talk I've ever seen. And she thinks like I do -- captured by the book's subtitle ~ 

The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness.

This may be the best place to be over the next few days, among the small things in life that offer big returns on that investment of time.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

The Last Outpost

Of the day, that is.

Wednesday is normally a long day and evening at work for me. It felt so good to turn the key in my front door this evening. To pour a glass of wine and make dinner. A beautiful tomato from the garden and some fresh mozzarella, fresh basil I grow in my kitchen window. EVOO and a thick fig balsamic vinegar. Salt. Pepper.

This writing is the last outpost of the day. I'm ready to crawl into bed, close my eyes, and sink into the dark landscape of sleep. And dreams.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

Three Breaths

When things get tough, I close my eyes and take three deep breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. They drive oxygen to the brain and bring deep refreshment. The heart rate decreases and blood vessels dilate, bringing down the blood pressure as the parasympathetic nervous system is activated.

It's a mini retreat in the moment. 

I teach this simple ritual in a mindfulness class I lead once a month. I have a student who has shared that this has helped him at work when things get frustrating. It's amazing how the simple things are often the most effective.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

The Brilliance of Oils

Women of a certain age and their essential oils have become something of a meme these days, especially when people insist they can do anything from curing cancer to preventing Covid infection. 

But, really, essential oils have a certain brilliance to them, and perhaps it takes women and their sensitive olfactory response to notice. 

The olfactory sense connects so many things, from memory, to the ability to taste, to recognizing which newborn is one's own baby, to noticing if something is off in the body. And so much more. The olfactory sense has an effect on the nervous system - those who have experience with essential oils or chicken soup or onions cooking in butter understand that anything from mood to heart rate can be affected by scent.

Lavender is great for relaxation, especially in an Epsom salts bath. Rose is lovely for open heartedness. Vetiver and cedar for grounding. Jasmine for relaxing into the senses of the body. Citrus for upliftment and energy. 

I popped into a gift shop today and discovered some new blends of oils infused with crystals and botanicals. I love the idea of raising the energetic vibration by including these activators to the oils, and they also make the small, clear glass roller ball bottles beautiful. I was drawn to two today, one with yarrow leaf and red jasper and the other with rose quartz and rose petals. 

Warm oils in the hands and breathe in the scent. Three deep breaths make a beautiful ritual. 

   

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

Tipping My Hat to an Old Standby

I traded a crisp summer salad recipe for soup tonight. It's mid-August but you'd think it was October, when I crave food that's warm and mushy like a thick, pureed root vegetable soup.

Soup is the magic of transformation in a pot on the stove.

Here's the method -

I use what I have and it always gives me something wonderful. Today that was part of an onion I had in the fridge and some nearly gone carrots from the farm market. The skins and stems went into the scrap bag I keep in the freezer for stock making. I also used a medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks. All of this went into a pot on the stove with EVOO and a fat clove of garlic,  roughly chopped, until everything was lightly caramelized. 

I added about four cups of chicken stock I made last week and had in the freezer. Brought that nearly to a boil and turned it down to simmer 35 minutes. Blended with a hand blender until smooth. Seasoned with Celtic grey sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and some fresh thyme I dried and keep in the fridge. I put the seasoning on the vegetables while they are browning.

Meanwhile, I thawed 7 large shrimp and chopped them into nice chunks, cut the kernels from the cob of an ear of corn I picked up at the farmer's market the other day. The corn is perfectly in season and is beautifully sweet. I usually use the Wild Argentinian Shrimp from Trader Joe's. Added these ingredients to the pot and simmered for about ten minutes. 

No gluten, dairy, or added sugars. Nothing inflammatory. Fabulous with a green salad.

I had it for dinner and saved some to take to work for lunch another day. An old standby. Delicious.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.. 

 

I Felt Almost Normal

Met a friend from out of town for tea and conversation. Went shopping. Picked up a carry out order for lunch and cooked dinner at home. Watched a couple of Disney movies, the kind that inspire children to be courageous, to be who they really are. 

Sometimes the child within adults needs the message too, one that gets past the defenses we've learned to build.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

 

A Different Road

My GPS gave me three choices today. The usual road and two others. The two others were way out of my way, but both would get me home more quickly than the usual road. 

As I think about it now, it feels like a life lesson. The more direct route isn't always the best choice. Sometimes the road that winds around works better than the more direct route. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

The Happiest Flower on Earth

Zinnias are the happiest flower on Earth. 

I planted them in my garden every year when the kids were little. They brightened my entire summer and gave me vases filled with beautiful color year after year. They are hardy, easy to grow, and prolific. 

When my daughter was four, she had her own beautiful zinnia garden in an old tire that was sunk into the ground in the backyard of the parsonage. That year, we also put in a huge vegetable garden, and an L-shaped flower garden that had cosmos, nicotiana, globe amaranth, and three heights of zinnias. I was pregnant with my son that year and it felt like the garden had been inspired by my womb. Lush and fecund. I loved to watch the cosmos move on the air and the fragrance of the nicotiana carried on the breeze. Loved to cut and arrange all the colorful zinnias.

When I moved here, ground hogs ate every zinnia and cosmos I planted. I haven't planted them since. But while running errands with my mom a few months ago, we found gorgeous zinnia plants at a local hardware store. I think that we both remembered the zinnias of my childhood and happier times that were punctuated by vases of the colorful blossoms. They are such a simple pleasure. We bought several plants and put them into a garden box she has in the backyard. They've been blooming ever since, profusely, and every time I visit they welcome me and make me smile.

As we've been talking about it, Mom has said that her sweet and cheerful zinnias make her happy. Really bring her joy. She's been cutting them and filling vases, little colorful touches around the house. I love that we share an affinity for these flowers, and I suppose she was the one who introduced us and encouraged the love affair. 

They've become my happy flower again. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

 

Growing Through Stone

I've always been enchanted by flowers, plants, and trees that grow through stone.

Once when I was in Taos, I was struck by a stand of cowpen daisies growing up through cracks in the street. There was a whole community of them. Another time, friends gave me a framed photo from a trip to Greece, an olive tree had split a boulder and grew up through the middle of it.

"This reminds me of you," she said.

The tree was strong and healthy, in full leaf, producing fruit. Proud, against a bright blue sky. Leaves, a vivid spring green. The split boulder, part of the beauty of the whole.

Recently, I found a photo of a stand of violas growing up through cracks in concrete. They are flowering as if there is nothing strange about their circumstance. I wonder how they are being nourished so well, to bloom so beautifully.

It's mystery, of course.

I'm sure there are explanations and theories about why some people are able to be hardy and resilient in circumstances that don't seem to support life, who are able to blossom in the harshest landscapes. These flowers and plants and trees and people are teachers to us. They mirror something powerful about our possibility, something powerful even about our reality - especially when we're willing to entertain the possibility that even the soil in which we grow can be confounded by the tenacity of what, or who, is growing there.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

Summer Storm

The day was hot and muggy, more like Florida than Pennsylvania. When I first moved here, few people had air conditioning because they didn't need it. It rarely got hot enough to use it. Our house had one powerful wall unit in the family room that could cool things down if needed. There were folding doors to dining room and to the hall. Close them, enjoy the day, and turn it off at night when things cooled down.  

But our neighbors had started to convert their homes to central air. We bought a couple of window units for the bedrooms. We used them more and more, year after year, and left the doors to the kitchen open to air condition the whole main floor. 

These days hot and muggy are the norm. A perfect storm formed today that reminds me of summer vacations in Florida, where most afternoons were relieved of their heat and humidity by a storm. 

Today's storm is not like the one I wrote about a few months ago, the kind that sent us to the front porch to play Monopoly when we were kids. That made the air smell the smell that carries loam and green plants. 

Today's storm is sticky and steamy. At least by the end of it an hour later, the temperature dropped 20 degrees and the only thunder and lighting that remains is on the weather app of my iPhone.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

Are Monday Funks Still a Thing?

Are Monday funks still a thing? Is it just the long work week ahead that feels daunting? I can't decide for myself how I feel about this. I think there may have been a time that the weekend felt ages away, but lately I notice I'm more mindful about things and more in the present moment, so I'm not looking ahead or behind as much as I once did, for the most part.

I will say that it feels like a relief when Monday has come and gone. Perhaps that is a vestige of how I once felt about the long work week ahead. My perception of time has changed and the weeks and months and years seem to fly by more than they have before. Maybe that's why I no longer dread Mondays.

Dread? Where did that come from? It must have been a slip that clues me in to an old feeling. Maybe other things have come in over a lifetime to show me that Mondays and dread don't belong together. Can't say I'm dreading anything right now. And I don't want to go into the mindset that will enable me to connect with things I might dread that remain hidden most of the time. I've got a meeting tonight, so I'm off to take a break and make some dinner. Now that's something I can enjoy in the middle of my long Monday. 

Tuesday will be here before we know it.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life..

  

 

Sunday Wonders

It's the first Sunday in months that I didn't fall into bed right after church. Did a few chores, some errands, some work. Made some good food. Talked to some friends. Watched the end of the Olympics, the highlight reels, the closing ceremony. 

I'm a woman of few words this evening. My screen keeps freezing. I'm wondering if my laptop is trying to tell me it's time to look into something new.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.. 

  

  

Superfoods Platter

You don't need a fancy recipe to make a beautiful meal. 

I craved something nourishing today. The fridge and pantry are filled with healthy and nourishing food. I decided just to make up a few things and put them together with some raw foods on a platter. Forbidden rice. A sweet potato. Figs. Pomegranate arils. Lacinato kale. Feta cheese. An avocado. Some leftover roasted chicken. It looks planned, but the ingredients were intuitively gathered and everything was simply arranged on the platter. It was a gorgeous meal. Filling, Nourishing. Clean. 

A Hundred Years of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

The Fortune Cookie Knows

I'm back to fulltime work with a church and by the time it's Friday morning, a day off for me, I'm spent and ready for some deep rest. So, I'm giving it to myself. You don't even want to know what time I got up today or how little I accomplished. 

I did have a great dinner with friends - definitely a joy buzzer. The evening was cool. The insects were singing. The fireflies rose up from their resting places in the grass. The food was great. The wine was lovely. The conversation was wonderful. 

So I'm back home and thinking about the fortune cookie I broke open today.

Now is a good time to finish up old tasks. 

Fortunately, there's plenty of time tomorrow for chores. 

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

This Picture Is Everything

Sometimes you come across a photo that speaks to you. 

Happiness is a journey.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.  

A Change in Light

Long days at work that flow into the evening give me pause to notice the darkening sky out my kitchen window.

A wind moves shadowy boughs that rest against a lavender-grey sky.

The reflection of the ceiling fan calls me back inside.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

Profile in Courage

It was such a privilege this evening to witness Simone Biles perform again. 

We've watched her very public crisis as the first week of Olympic competition made it's way across the screen and the page. Everyone seems to have an opinion about her choices, and some of those expressed have lacked compassion or empathy in ways that have surprised me. My being surprised, of course, is no surprise. I often underestimate the unkindness of strangers.

When I look at Simone, I see courage. And I'm grateful for her example. How many of us have soldiered through when it hasn't been good for us and when it hasn't really been necessary? How many of us have made the choice to soldier through because we are worried about what others will think of our choice? How many of us look at the words "self care" and think we're reading some kind of strange language? How many of us have pushed ourselves and been hurt when we've not known when we should have stopped and said no?

There is no doubt that Simone Biles is fierce. Her performance this week has taken our understanding of that to a new level. I'm thinking it might be wonderful if Simone's legacy had less to do with gymnastics and more to do with teaching people how to choose health over gratuitous achievement.  

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders.. She asks big questions of the small things in life .

.  

Celebrating First Fruits

New week. New month. New season, or at least the slight shifts that come at the cross-quarter. Ancient people recognized it. And celebrated it. First of February, May, August, last day of October. Slight changes in the light and in the air. We'll be noticing the days are beginning to diminish by now, and the morning air is cooler. Tree fruits and grains ripen and drop their bounty. Sunset it closer to 8 p.m. than to 8:30. And sunrise is just about at 6 a.m. rather than at 5:30.

My kitchen is filled with fruit. I've probably bought too much, but there's such a bounty. Peaches, figs, strawberries and blueberries. Cherries are still available in abundance. I'm waiting for local plums. Apples and pears will be here soon. This time of year is the original feast. 

Long before our calendar of celebrations was codified, people feasted when the fruit ripened. There, really, was no way to preserve all that goodness and our hunter-gatherer ancestors tended to follow where the food supply led. 

As I think about what their lives might have been like, I think about the joy that must have been theirs when coming across that first stand of shrubs with ripe blue berries, trees hanging heavy with pears or figs or apricots. How, over time, they learned that there was a long succession of ripening fruit before the time of winter scarcity set in. They may even have discovered fermentation while watching the fruit ripen, drop, and break down.

I think something ancient in us is plugged in to this rhythm.

In post-modern life we may not always notice the gifts of the earth, but I think we are happier when we do. There is something natural, built-in to us as part of the web of life, that connects us to the rhythms and gifts of the earth. There's also something sad about life today, as we sometimes don't take the full measure of the season we're in and then chase after illusory pieces of it later - like trying to find strawberries in January. The balance of this time of year is abundance. It feels counterintuitive to write that; perhaps it is paradox. For those who like symmetry, the opposing measure will come early in February when only the humble snowdrop seems to be able to break the hard freeze of the natural rhythm and points to what is to come. 

So I'll be feasting on fruit and adding it to my cooking - salads with berries and figs, prosciutto-wrapped peaches and chopped pistachios over a bed of arugula. Yesterday I made a tomato gallette. I'm likely to make one with peaches before the season is over. Tomato sandwiches. Avocado, corn, and tomato salad. All that fresh goodness . . . I smile just thinking about it.  

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.. 

 

There Are Days

I'm not sure which smell makes me happier - the herb-fragrant soup on the stove or the ripe peaches I just pulled out of a brown bag.

There are days when I have to stretch to find the elements of happiness. Smells often help reconnect me to joy.

A Hundred Days of Happiness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life. 

.