The only difference between an extraordinary life and an ordinary one is the extraordinary pleasures you find in ordinary things.
                                                                                                                       Veronica Vienn
                                                                                                           French designer, author, and artist



Almost August.

At this juncture I would traditionally gaze at the calendar with mixed emotions – “Smack dab in the middle of summer – woohoo!” would compete with, “Yikes, summer is half over!”

Not this year.

And why is that?

We could just blame it on Covid, (It has become everyone’s favourite whipping boy.) but I don’t think it’s that simple.

I have been traveling a lot this spring and summer and just returned to Caledon.   Today I casually struck out on my favourite Caledon trail but wasn’t ready for the magic.   Every blossom and berry was in bloom.   Banks of wild phlox, fields of butterfly weed and Queen Anne’s lace backed up by sumacs full with luscious berries.

I swear if anyone is feeling a scarcity of any kind, go take a walk on the wild side and witness nature’s abundance right now. It is an antidote for lack, worry, exhaustion, and probably much more, because if we are immersed in beauty and abundance we cannot participate in any of the former states.

There is a caveat, however. You absolutely must be in the present moment. Without wavering. Once we allow the mind to take over, we slide back into ‘lack, worry, exhaustion etc.’

It is a practice that we can do anywhere at anytime, and this practice of mindfulness or presence can be our best friend. Without any drugs or artificial stimulus we can jump from blues to bliss, from worry to wonder. I had only intended to walk one section of the trail and before I knew it I had covered three. It was a gift of grace. But isn’t that what bliss it? A relief from all that would keep us from being anything other than the light?

We love it because that is what we are meant to be. It is our true nature. Gloominess is what holds us down. If we want to fly like the angels we must find our bliss, whether it’s in a field of wild flowers or a path to living a more authentic life.

It’s hard to talk about bliss without mentioning mythologist, Joseph Campbell, who gave us The Hero’s Journey and introduced the idea of ‘following your bliss’.

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that had been there the whole while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living,” he writes.

I find that my bliss usually involves being immersed in nature – total immersion! Or perhaps when I am creating something, anything from a birthday card to an arrangement of flowers, a painting or poem.

Where do you find your bliss? If you don’t know, then it’s time to investigate. This is not something you want to discover on your deathbed. I am with Joe Campbell all the way. We are here on this planet to discover our bliss and to be in that state as much as possible.

So Covid or no Covid, keep your eyes on the prize, dear ones, and use the former like everything else that Life hands us -- an opportunity to Be Present.   Everyday.  Start small.  Five minutes ‘being in the moment’. Watch the birds.  Appreciate your garden.  Appreciate a beautiful sonata or sunrise.   Be blissful.  And watch how things change.



“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
                                                                                                                         -- Joseph Campbell