{"id":6596,"date":"2012-08-09T12:30:29","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T19:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janaremy.com\/?p=6596"},"modified":"2012-08-09T12:30:29","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T19:30:29","slug":"6596","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janaremy.com\/pilgrimsteps\/2012\/08\/09\/6596\/","title":{"rendered":"but happiness floats…"},"content":{"rendered":"

This poem expresses much of what I’ve been feeling lately–so much deep satisfaction with my life’s happenings.\u00a0 Sometimes it feels almost wrong to be so pleased with things, to have so many elements fall into place.\u00a0 But at the same time, I also believe in the line of this poem that “You are happy either way…<\/em>”\u00a0 Because I’ve nearly-always chosen happiness, despite the difficulties of my life circumstances.<\/p>\n

Still sometimes I wonder if because I’ve had challenges in so many things for so long, what I will do if things are just good<\/em>?\u00a0 Will it cause my life to be boring and predictable?\u00a0 Will I create small and unnecessary dramas because I don’t have big ones anymore?\u00a0 Or will I start getting itchy for the open road and new possibilities (and dangers)?<\/p>\n

Two nights ago (my first night sleeping on my own bed in our new house), I woke up realizing that I’d slept better than I had in years–deep, restful, peaceful sleep.\u00a0 And now I’m looking forward to so many more nights of that ahead…and thinking that whatever the future might hold, for now I will just relax and see how things unfold from here…<\/p>\n

So Much Happiness<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Naomi Shihab Nye<\/a><\/p>\n

It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
\nWith sadness there is something to rub against,
\na wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
\nWhen the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
\nsomething to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.<\/p>\n

But happiness floats.
\nIt doesn’t need you to hold it down.
\nIt doesn’t need anything.
\nHappiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
\nand disappears when it wants to.
\nYou are happy either way.
\nEven the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
\nand now live over a quarry of noise and dust
\ncannot make you unhappy.
\nEverything has a life of its own,
\nit too could wake up filled with possibilities
\nof coffee cake and ripe peaches,
\nand love even the floor which needs to be swept,
\nthe soiled linens and scratched records\u2026..<\/p>\n

Since there is no place large enough
\nto contain so much happiness,
\nyou shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
\ninto everything you touch. You are not responsible.
\nYou take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
\nfor the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
\nand in that way, be known.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This poem expresses much of what I’ve been feeling lately–so much deep satisfaction with my life’s happenings.\u00a0 Sometimes it feels almost wrong to be so pleased with things, to have so many elements fall into place.\u00a0 But at the same time, I also believe in the line of this poem that “You are happy either […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deep-thoughts","category-family","category-make-me-smile"],"yoast_head":"\nbut happiness floats... - PilgrimSteps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.janaremy.com\/pilgrimsteps\/2012\/08\/09\/6596\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"but happiness floats... - 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