with sun

Everything's better when the sun shines.

I'm going to go ahead and self-diagnose myself with Seasonal Affective Disorder (I'm pretty sure that for most people this stems from basic depression about life in general made worse by the fact that everything's grey for 9 months). For me, life is pretty good. It's great actually, and I still get a little morose. I blame clouds, rain, general dampness, and not being able to wear my favorite shoes.

This morning, I popped out of bed, put on a shirt with beaded bling on the sleeves (a la Michael Jackson), and practically bounced my way to work. Mention was made that I seemed more 'up' than usual, and the only cause I can think of is that the sun was shining.

Now that the sun has once again been devoured by ominous looking rainclouds, I'm picturing myself on a couch reading Water for Elephants, my pup curled up next to me, napping. Add candlelight and a glass of wine, and I guess life ain't so bad after all.

Of course, it's not a summer sail on a beautiful breezy ocean...

wanderlust-me-not

There is a literary magazine I've often enjoyed titled The Sun. It is filled with poetry, short stories, Reader's Write, photographs, and interviews with interesting people affecting our world. On the last page they choose a theme and quote writers and philosophers, and it is this page I've turned to first, loving the commentaries on many of life's themes.

I just found out they have a book of these Sunbeams that take you "on a journey through innocence and experience, love and loss, disillusionment and awakening. Along the way you'll find words that inspire as well as challenge; that celebrate the beauty around us without ignoring the injustices in our midst."

Here are a few I recently re-discovered:

Wandering reestablishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.

-Anatole France

Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.

-Freya Stark

People travel to faraway places to watch in fascination the kind of people they ignore at home.

-Dagobert D. Runes

If you lived in your heart, you'd be home by now.

-anonymous