Almost Paradise

“Paradise is here or nowhere: you must take your joy with you or you will never find it.” -Orison Swett Marden

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I decided to continue on with my thoughts about the world (or my life) appearing to be more monochromatic these days – as opposed to full color.

My hopes with the image were that it could do two things. One, brighten things up with pops of loud hues – and two, lead me into my thoughts about all of this. And some new excitement.

It didn’t take long for me last night to see this whole ‘mundane living’ thing as an opportunity. For one, I honestly think that paradise is something that is unseen rather than something that is visible. It’s about mindset.

And, as the quote says, it is here or nowhere. If I’m understanding his point correctly, that joy (our paradise) is within – it is something we carry with us, not something we need to look for or find.

I know there are places on earth that look like what we might imagine paradise to be (I’m thinking clear turquoise beaches with white sand and cute cabana boys), but nothing is perfect. Although that does sound nice right about now, haha!

These places suffer just like us. Earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, violent gangs… and so on. I mean, as a very small example, we have a pretty nice backyard here at the house – but if I go out there at the wrong time it’s either too hot, too cold, or I’ll be itching like mad (mosquitos).

No matter where I am, or what is going on around me, if I let these external conditions define how I feel, I’ll be in trouble. And if I’m feeling that things are kind of mundane right now, it’s probably not much different. It’s got something to do with what’s going on inside of me.

I thought that maybe I could find a sense of purpose in all of this, and I could take a look around each day and see if there is something that I normally take for granted, ignore, or just don’t do: Enjoy something new in the garden, practice a guided meditation with deep breathing exercises, a trip to the store with my mom.

I say that last one because I take my mother to the store on a regular basis, and if you’ve ever seen a person speed shop, then you’ve seen “me.” I rush myself, I rush my mom, and I have to try very hard to not rush the check out clerk as well. Why? I have no idea.

This type of errand should be more like a ritual to me. It is something I should savor and enjoy… especially since my mother is 88 now. And maybe if I did slow down, and I did view that time as something sacred, rather than a bothersome chore, things wouldn’t seem quite as mundane.

Just a thought.

So… I’ll be thinking about this, and I’ll be exploring and examining some new thoughts and some new things… and I hope to share more as time goes on.

Until then,
Peace.

As Emily Dickinson once said, “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”

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I am still looking into Adobe alternatives – that will be a bit of a slow burn, but it’s still happening. In the meantime, this was done in Illustrator and then I sent it off to various places for the effects.

The sky and water were kept simple because the chair and umbrella are the stars. They look very inviting!