“If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important.  If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it.  If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile?”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step

I love the day after Christmas. I love the feeling that it’s a day for me to relax, no pressure. I took it easy. Went out for a good long walk with Charlie; the special one came for the first part, which was lovely, but he wanted to go inside after we visited the river, and then I took the rest of the time to myself, enjoying the ice, looking for images, appreciating all of the beauty and quiet, inside my head and outside too. Just the bubbling brook bubbling into my ears. I re-listened to “Peace is Every Step,” by Thich Nhat Hanh. I paid attention to my breathing and I practiced turning off my thoughts by focusing on my breath and my steps on the frozen earth over sticks and leaf matter and rocks and roots of the trees. This was remarkably uplifting and pleasant and restful. It’s a relief to feel good, to be over this bug. And, deliciously, I napped in the afternoon on the new couch by the fire in the quiet house. Napped as long as I wanted, no pressure, nowhere to go, no one to take care of but me. And my body was heavy on the couch in relaxation and release. Tonight, after dark, after we watched a re-run of Mamma Mia and danced, I went out into the cold cloudy evening with my passenger in his “sleigh” with his flashlight, and we visited the lighted deer and wished them a Merry Christmas. And I told him about the next holiday coming soon, and how to wish happiness for the new year.