Thomas Merton, the hermit monk, writes often about his visceral need for solitude, to be with the Lord in his spare hermitage. In today's reading, he talks about the pleasure of receiving letters, people writing to him because of his essays that appear now and again in magazines and I sense some guilt in that pleasure.As if he feels that all he should need is God alone.
I wonder about that. Don't even hermits come down from their caves in the mountains to beg for food and maybe, just maybe, human appreciation in some form?
A book that I just finished speaks to all this. "Habits of a Happy Heart" tells of the positive chemicals that are released in humans that cause happiness, however fleeting.One such chemical, serotonin, appears when we receive kudos from our peers, whoever they may be.The author suggests that one habit that might be worthy of our developing would be to savor those moments. If we bat them away or deny those moments we are missing out on that gift nature has for us.
Speaking of batting away, I can recall my Mother, from good intentions no doubt, would be sure to bring me down a peg or two if I mentioned a victory."You must be humble", I heard."Don't be a big shot", she said.Sigh.Anyway, it's's not too late is it?
The other day, I received a thank you note from a member of our writing group.I had sent her a small multi-colored enamel cross with the word Joy on it. I could see it hanging near her writing desk by the window where she creates gorgeous haiku. She wrote that the colors matched her spot perfectly. Then she wrote, "Are you magic ?." Oh how I loved that small sentence. She and I and the others engage in magic every time we gather to write and share our stories.Magic, mystery and miracles are all around us.
Despite Merton and my Mom, I called my daughter, Jessica, to share that story, savoring the serotonin and knowing she would not bat it away.
No comments:
Post a Comment