And it's time for my first distraction!!!!!
Maybe it's the way every language sounds different and beautiful, with its own quirks and personality. That strange way language gives both character to the speaker, but also plays a character all by itself. Perhaps as a lover of stories, I can't help but wonder what strange and wonderful tales lie obscured by cultural veils and foreign tongue? Could it even be that, like every young man, I dream of adventure and freedom? That foreign language hints softly at childhood fantasies; icy air around mountaintop castles, endless plains of quivering gold, a bazaar's affronting cacophony and the cleansing smell of salt. One thing is certain.... there is something about accents, languages and the way different people express themselves that just fascinates me! Most recently it has been rekindled by finding several resources devoted to words which don't have a translation into English. I hope to post about many of these words in the future but for the moment one word in particular caught my attention and gave me something to think about.
One of the potential names for this blog was 'A life lived with Meraki', the last word in the title being a Greek word from the resource I mentioned before. Now whilst I am certainly not Greek (and I don't speak Greek), the translations that I have seen of 'Meraki' say that it means to input effort, passion, creativity, love or 'something of yourself' into whatever you are doing. One would have hoped that English already had a word that expressed such an important quality, but alas we appear to be lacking! Regardless though, the idea of this word really made me smile, and straight away I thought of what it might look like to not just do individual tasks 'With Meraki' (or however it would be said) but to live ones entire life with passion, love and creativity. To live in a way where you don't simply 'live', but you leave pieces of yourself everywhere you go and in everything you do, because not giving of yourself would be a waste. I cannot claim to have lived, or to be living this life yet, however the idea of such an extraordinary life is a very appealing one. To take it one step further though, I for one firmly believe that this type of life is actually the one expected of us by God. Of course one does not have to be a Christian or even a theist to acknowledge the amazing opportunity that we have with Life, but as a Christian, I am most compelled and enthused by God's opinion of what should or shouldn’t be happening in my life.
But therein lays the problem. What does 'A life lived with
Meraki' look like? How is it achieved? Short answer is, "I'm not
sure", but after very little thought I can think of three things in my
life which could and probably should be changed. Perhaps I will post others some time later, but for the moment, these stick out.
1. Saying No: It seems a strange one to start off with, but over the last year or so I have really noticed how much quality can be poorly affected by quantity. Not to say that doing lots of stuff is necessarily bad, just that I am the type of person to say yes to far too many things and subsequently do none of them well. So from now on, I will endeavour to say No more often. After all, the most delicious cakes don't use every ingredient in the kitchen!
2. Being purposeful: I have always been the type of person who dislikes goal setting/reflections/diaries and calendars. I prefer spontaneity and improvising, however this is slowly proving to be incompatible with the world around me. Furthermore, I am finding that my tolerance for chaos is much lower than originally thought. Instead of inspiring and exciting me, it leaves me overwhelmed and bewildered. So from now on, I will endeavour to have a plan. I will not be bound to that plan, nor will the plan be unchangeable if circumstances change, but I will try to paddle rather than simply be dragged along by the ebbs and eddies of life.
3. Being more heavenly minded: Perhaps I’m trying to sum up too much in the one point, but I will try regardless. By far the most powerful tool I have for encouragement, is my ability to look to the future and know that God is in control and that even after I have died (in fact, especially after I have died) I will have the security that I am being cared for and loved. Over the last several months in particular, I have not been joyful about life anywhere near as much as I should have. I haven’t been appreciative of the many blessings I have been given, and I most certainly have not been encouraging myself to get past the minor discomforts I have in my life and ensure that I am making the best us of my time here. So…. I will endeavour to read my Bible more, pray more and in turn, hopefully be more joyful rather than simply happy (a discernment I might flesh out some time later).
There is so much more that I could say, and so many more aspects of it that I think would be really interesting, but for the moment I shall exit cyberspace and perhaps even try to make a few of the aforementioned changes before I get distracted again. Not only that, but with the amount of promises of future posts I have made…. I really need to start writing! What have I done???
My very best wishes to everyone who desires to live their life with Meraki.
Until next we meet, Happy Dreaming and God bless
Lachy
Maybe it's the way every language sounds different and beautiful, with its own quirks and personality. That strange way language gives both character to the speaker, but also plays a character all by itself. Perhaps as a lover of stories, I can't help but wonder what strange and wonderful tales lie obscured by cultural veils and foreign tongue? Could it even be that, like every young man, I dream of adventure and freedom? That foreign language hints softly at childhood fantasies; icy air around mountaintop castles, endless plains of quivering gold, a bazaar's affronting cacophony and the cleansing smell of salt. One thing is certain.... there is something about accents, languages and the way different people express themselves that just fascinates me! Most recently it has been rekindled by finding several resources devoted to words which don't have a translation into English. I hope to post about many of these words in the future but for the moment one word in particular caught my attention and gave me something to think about.
One of the potential names for this blog was 'A life lived with Meraki', the last word in the title being a Greek word from the resource I mentioned before. Now whilst I am certainly not Greek (and I don't speak Greek), the translations that I have seen of 'Meraki' say that it means to input effort, passion, creativity, love or 'something of yourself' into whatever you are doing. One would have hoped that English already had a word that expressed such an important quality, but alas we appear to be lacking! Regardless though, the idea of this word really made me smile, and straight away I thought of what it might look like to not just do individual tasks 'With Meraki' (or however it would be said) but to live ones entire life with passion, love and creativity. To live in a way where you don't simply 'live', but you leave pieces of yourself everywhere you go and in everything you do, because not giving of yourself would be a waste. I cannot claim to have lived, or to be living this life yet, however the idea of such an extraordinary life is a very appealing one. To take it one step further though, I for one firmly believe that this type of life is actually the one expected of us by God. Of course one does not have to be a Christian or even a theist to acknowledge the amazing opportunity that we have with Life, but as a Christian, I am most compelled and enthused by God's opinion of what should or shouldn’t be happening in my life.
1. Saying No: It seems a strange one to start off with, but over the last year or so I have really noticed how much quality can be poorly affected by quantity. Not to say that doing lots of stuff is necessarily bad, just that I am the type of person to say yes to far too many things and subsequently do none of them well. So from now on, I will endeavour to say No more often. After all, the most delicious cakes don't use every ingredient in the kitchen!
2. Being purposeful: I have always been the type of person who dislikes goal setting/reflections/diaries and calendars. I prefer spontaneity and improvising, however this is slowly proving to be incompatible with the world around me. Furthermore, I am finding that my tolerance for chaos is much lower than originally thought. Instead of inspiring and exciting me, it leaves me overwhelmed and bewildered. So from now on, I will endeavour to have a plan. I will not be bound to that plan, nor will the plan be unchangeable if circumstances change, but I will try to paddle rather than simply be dragged along by the ebbs and eddies of life.
3. Being more heavenly minded: Perhaps I’m trying to sum up too much in the one point, but I will try regardless. By far the most powerful tool I have for encouragement, is my ability to look to the future and know that God is in control and that even after I have died (in fact, especially after I have died) I will have the security that I am being cared for and loved. Over the last several months in particular, I have not been joyful about life anywhere near as much as I should have. I haven’t been appreciative of the many blessings I have been given, and I most certainly have not been encouraging myself to get past the minor discomforts I have in my life and ensure that I am making the best us of my time here. So…. I will endeavour to read my Bible more, pray more and in turn, hopefully be more joyful rather than simply happy (a discernment I might flesh out some time later).
There is so much more that I could say, and so many more aspects of it that I think would be really interesting, but for the moment I shall exit cyberspace and perhaps even try to make a few of the aforementioned changes before I get distracted again. Not only that, but with the amount of promises of future posts I have made…. I really need to start writing! What have I done???
My very best wishes to everyone who desires to live their life with Meraki.
Until next we meet, Happy Dreaming and God bless
Lachy
Lachy, I LOVE this post. Thanks for writing!! (I'm starting to wonder if we're actually the same person...!) Haha, obviously joking, but I completely relate to pretty much everything you wrote... even, and especially, the three points at the end. (I've even cooked dishes before into which I've possibly actually added every herb/spice in the kitchen.)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a life lived with Meraki, and your reflections on what that might look like for you. Whilst I suspect it will actually look distinctly similar for me, this is something worth genuine reflection.
Thanks for the post Lachy. I love the idea of words and language too - and you use them so beautifully. I await future posts with great anticipation!
Bloss