happiness is...

It struck me yesterday evening as I crouched over the coffee table, coloring a picture from the book of approximately 5 kajillion mandala drawings I purchased for the kid's "special drawer" last summer (anticipated completion date: November 2023) and keeping one eye on my "Words With Friends" iPod app (love it -- seriously, if you play, find me at LauraGifford), that at that discrete moment I felt perfectly content. I was reminded once again that even as we grasp for the magnificent, it is often the mundane that gives us our necessary day-to-day sustenance. We need transcendence, as I blogged about a few weeks back; we also need rhythm and balance, small pleasures and everyday experiences.

The particulars will be different for each of us, but the overall idea is universal. If I'm starting to feel jittery and cranky, it's probably been a day or two since I've run or otherwise exercised. If I feel out of sync, it's highly likely I need to color with or read to the kid. If my world feels like it's spinning out of control, well, time to find a book. Back in the days of the late, great Walter the indoor cat, if I felt out of sorts or upset, it was probably time to go pet the animal.

Above all else, of course, our "center" should come from God. In all of the above, I should be adding "prayer" to the list. I'd suggest, though, that many of these practices are themselves gifts from the God who understands our insides far better than we do ourselves.

What centers you?