Happy 2011!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata” has been a constant inspiration and comfort to me over the last year. There always seems to be a few lines in there that speak what I need to hear in times of self-doubt, frustration, or stress. So to close 2010 and welcome in 2011, here are some passages from “Desiderata,” in the hopes that they will speak to you as well.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

As I grow older, I find myself being more and more thankful for my friends. This year, I’m especially thankful for the ones that I’ve managed to keep close to me, even though we might not see each other very often. I’m thankful for people who both inspire me and are inspired by me. People who impress me with their determination and goodness and manage to bring out the best in me as well.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

So many marriages and babies around me these days! Congratulations to all of those who are filled with love. For those who aren’t, I can’t express it better than Ehrmann did. I struggle with cynicism in this area, and it would be too much of a leap to try to be inspirational about relationships. Still, he says “as perennial as the grass,” not “as perennial as the single evergreen tree in your backyard.” It’s not all about romantic love – love is all around. Ok, I am done.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

I’m a pure product of a society that values the thinking mind. Up until the last few years, I’ve always let my mind run free with the over-analyzing, the worrying, the self-criticism. Through introductions to yoga and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love, no matter how frou-frou people might say the philosophies are, I’ve gleaned from them a new thing for me: be present. There are appropriate times for reflection, but each moment spent gloating over a past victory or fretting over an imaginary future issue is potentially a moment that you deny yourself the experiences that are happening now. Maybe next year will being me blessings, maybe next year will bring me trials, but I want to experience it all to the fullest. And I hope you will as well!

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Happy new year!

~N (and Max Ehrmann)