Romancing the Ordinary

Hepaticas

It's the secret to life.  Or one of them anyway:  find joy in the simple things.

A year after my husband died I felt especially down.    I was in one of those "nothing is good, everything is hard, poor me" sort of moods.  I stubbornly pushed myself to come up with one good thing, maybe two.  It was spring and I remember thinking "well, at least I can walk out my door and be in the woods."  So I did.  The hepatica's were blooming.  Sweet little lavender flowers with tri-lobe fuzzy stemmed leaves.  Everywhere.  Dotting the forest with little peeps of joy.  On my way home, I remember thinking "at least every spring the hepaticas bloom."   Then it was as if I noticed for the first time that "I really like the color blue when its in the sky."  That little hike was what got me on to healing.  I know people have animals as totems, but mine would have to be a hepatica.

Today, that deep sadness seems miles away.  I can come up with a long list of good things, some I am sure would make people wonder.  Gathering beach glass, looking inside a flower, the color and texture of ground cover in the woods, hearing the waves on Lake Michigan from my bed.   Romancing the Ordinary.

I am not the first.   Sarah Ban Breathnach wrote a delightful book seven years ago: Romancing the Ordinary - A Year of Simple Splendor  - goodness, it's only $.03 on Amazon!   If you are having a hard time coming up with your mental list, this one is sure to jump start it.