A typical Life

This week I am posting a quote from Secrets of Sant’Angelo, a novel by Jeff Shapiro.  “Prendila con filosofia” is Italian that translates into English as “Take it with philosophy” .  Secrets of Sant’Angelo opens with an explanation of this philosophy:

“philosophy meaning patience, perspective, a pinch of humor…..philosophy takes the edge off everyday mishaps: flat tires, railway strikes, food that burns and sticks to the cooking pot.  When love affairs run out of passion, when disappointed dreams die, philosophy eases heartache”

Merriam Webster defines philosophy as a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means.

In general I believe that we jump to conclusions about events in our lives and clump them in categories of good or bad, fun or tortuous, pleasant or unpleasant.   This categorization lacks the foresight of what the event may be trying to tell us or how it will impact our lives in the longer run.

I’m going to try and remember this quote the next time something ‘bad’ or ‘unpleasant’ is happening in my life - I am going to try and “Take it with philosophy”.  What about you?

Photo Credit:  Flickr, Philosophers Club

I’m currently reading A New Earth;  Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and it’s a very good read.  I’m finding the book interesting on many different levels and thought that I would share this quote with you:

“Most people are only peripherally aware of the world that surrounds them, especially if their surroundings are familiar…..Some people feel more alive when they travel and visit unfamiliar places or foreign countries because at those times sense perception - experiencing - takes up more of their consciousness than thinking.”

Since arriving in Japan I am finding that  what I can do at home without expending much energy tends to exhaust me in Japan.  I am not alone, my new friends and I have been chatting about it lately and we all agree that it’s due to sensory overload, or simply processing what is not familiar in our minds.  We also think that it’s due to the fact that we are required to pay more attention simply  to accomplish every day tasks.  I touched on these things in my Japan - Awe & Wonder post a while back.

As I read through this book I am struck by how full life can be if you can only get out of your own way.  I’m trying to take the time to be present for everything and it’s amazing how amazing the little things are!

Yesterday when I was rummaging around in an old notebook that I keep in my handbag I ran across a snippet of newspaper that held the following quote from Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette:

“What a wonderful life I’ve had - I only wish I had realized it sooner”

I believe this little bit of newsprint was taken out of the USA Today but I’m not sure of the date.  I’m glad I cut it out as it’s a great reminder to enjoy every day - each one is wonderful in it’s own way!

This weeks quote evokes a feeling of tranquility and mystery that I have been experiencing lately and is very appropriate given the misty/hazy mornings that we have been having in Tokyo. This morning I awoke and stepped outside only to be reminded of camping trips where you wake up in the morning and step outside into the peaceful cool of a misty morning.

The quote is by calligraphy artist Toko Shinoda from the spring edition of Kateigaho International Edition (KIE), an English language magazine that I would recommend to anyone interested in Japanese culture.

When the mist rises, we envision the dream-like springtime that must be there, somewhere beyond it. So the mist whispers. The mist makes reality feel lonely, and nurtures the dream. In the moments when evening mist shrouds the edges of the western hills, we we glimpse for an instant another world.

This weeks quote is from The Commoner: A Novel by John Burnham Schwartz that is loosely based on the experiences of the current empress of Japan as the first commoner to marry into the Japanese royal family.  The book is a bit of a page turner and there are a lot of things mentioned in the book that I am eager to learn more about.  Here is the quote:

“…your travels must be agreeing with you, broadening your mind and your sense of the world.  this is all to the good.  Such knowledge can’t merely be borrowed after the fact; it must be seen with one’s own eyes at the actual moment.”

As I sit in Japan and experience all that there is to see and do I know that it is altering my views on the world and my little place in it.  I am finding that I am still in awe of Japan but also that some of my views have changed quite a bit since I was here 10 years ago.

This weekend I had the privilege of seeing Barefoot in the Park, a play by Neil Simon, at the Diamond Head Theater in Honolulu. Here is a line spoken by the Corie Bratter character in the play to her husband:

…There are watchers in this world,and there are doers. And the watchers sit around watching the doers do.

Corie is frustrated with her new husband after a night out on the town because she had a great time and her husband sat quietly in the corner ‘watching’.

I am definitely a doer. Which one are you?

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were overwhelmed or numb? Our emotions can sneak up on us and can live on well after the event that inspired them.

…It was hard to feel the right emotions at the right time. They didn’t come at all when you set a place for them, and they sacked you when you weren’t ready, when you were just innocently flossing your teeth, for example, or eating a bowl of cereal…

Excerpt from The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares.

This week’s quote is from my Mom and is in honor of my beloved Grandmother who passed away this weekend at the age of 91:

“I took her as far as I could….”

It’s a simple line really but it says so much about my Mom and the dedication that she showed to my Grandmother throughout her life. Let me explain, after my Grandmother passed the funeral home was called to pick her up and when they were leaving my mother asked if she and my father could follow the car to the funeral home. It may have seemed like and odd request but it was granted and my parents drove along behind and then went home. In relaying the story to me my mother said “I took her as far as I could…”.

My grandmother was a strong woman who was widowed twice and lost a son in her lifetime but I never saw her cry or complain “Why me?”.  She had a great sense of family and had a wonderful sense of humor. She loved to dance and a deck of cards was never far away. While growing up I spent many hours with my Grandma playing cards at the kitchen table, talking about almost everything and laughing a lot. Over the years she taught me a lot more than a few card games and she will always have a big place in my heart. I will cherish my memories of her always.

I just shipped my hubby off to Japan and now I am looking forward to joining him in a month. Over the last few weeks I have been pondering how to get the most out of the experience of living in Japan and I came across this quote from QuoteGrarden:

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” James Michener

This has always been my philosophy and I think that I will post this on my fridge in Japan. It will remind me to make the most of this awesome opportunity that has been given to me - even on the frustrating days!

This weeks quote is from the Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman.

“What is the difference between love and obsession? Didn’t both make you stay up all night, wandering the streets, a victim of your own imagination, your own heartbeat? Didn’t you fall into both, headfirst into quicksand? Wasn’t every man a fool and every woman a slave?

Love was like rain: it turned to ice, or it disappeared. Now you saw it, now you couldn’t find it no matter how hard you might search. Love evaporated, obsession was realer; it hurt, like a pin in you bottom, an stone in your shoe. A morning phone call filled with regret. A letter that said ‘Dear you, goodbye from me’. Obsession tasted like something familiar. Something you’d known your whole life. It settled and lurked; it stayed with you.”

I’m not so sure that I agree that obsession is longer lasting, it’s just results in more intense feelings for what is usually a shorter period of time. Love morphs from passionate obsession into something softer and longer lasting - if you’re lucky!

What do you think?