Armchair Zen

June 28th is my birthday. Day 21,185 this year.

It’s so easy to let days slip past, one at a time, and before you know it, you’ve blown through your whole allotment of around 25,000 (based on an average life expectancy).

Living longer and adding days is an odd dichotomy, at least for me.

I look back through my treasured moments and find them invaluable.

And each day offers me more.

I look back on those black marks on some of those 21,000-plus days, and quickly dispel the thought of anticipating more.

Some things simply should not be thought of.

I’ve been in a bit of a slump for a while.

Work has been a grind. Life has been a challenge, squeezing in time for joy has become difficult.

The loss of my 15-year canine partner in this walk of life hit me hard, and I’m a little surprised that it still weighs on me so after 11 months.

Still, rarely a day goes by that I don’t remember something about him that makes me laugh out loud.

Theodore Geisel (known to most as Dr.Seuss) says, in OH! The Places You’ll Go!, “Unslumping oneself is not easily done.”

On balance, this life and this world are beautiful and precious. Moments are forged daily.

At times like this, it’s more important than ever to remain focused on seeking the joy in life’s simplest pleasures.

I’ll close with a poem which has appeared here before, but bears repeating.

June Piece

It seems as though we’ve just watched

The last of the snow fade.

Now we count the growing grass,

Blade by blade.

We await hummingbirds, tanagers, 

The peony’s first blooms.

We can open our windows (during the day, at least),

In our rooms.

Summer solstice brings promise,

Today the day is long.

We turn to see the rose’s bloom and…

June is gone.

Evening In The Garden

Seek peace (and simple joys always),

Paz