(Photo of me from October 2002 in Sitges, the town I lived in in Spain.)
So many people inspire me to enjoy my life to the fullest, my husband, my son, my mom, my dad, my friends and family (especially my Aunt Ruth, if I have half her energy in my middle years, I will be thrilled.) It always saddens me a little when I meet a person or run across a blog completely filled with negatives from their every day. I realize we all have bad days which we need to vent but it begs me to wonder, do some people ever have good moments in their lives?
In 2002 my geography/social studies class took a field trip to El Raval, a district of Barcelona. It is one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world as well as the poorest in Barcelona, the slums in other words. In a way it is the best kept secret of the city, just a few streets over is the touristy and thriving medieval quarter, people are unknowingly deterred from the slums since there is a stone wall around it. The political or moral issues this arises aside, the thing I remember most about El Ravel was how happy everyone seemed to be. Children in rags running around laughing more then I ever saw my own friends smile, men played simple board games enjoying themselves, women chatting happily as they shared food outside buildings with no power or water (the charity of the poor is amazing.) In retrospect that trip really put my life in perspective as far as what you needed to find happiness. We only really need each other.
In my opinion, a lot of the people I know (primarily but not exclusively Americans) are addicted to feeling down and drama. Nothing can be about other people and it all has to be about how it affects them. It takes something huge with lots of media coverage for people to drag themselves into action. I think it is sad, but not hopeless, never hopeless. When I meet people like this, I try the hardest to make them smile, they seem to need it the most. Ironically it is these very people I tend to annoy with my optimism, but something makes me refuse to give up, I generally eventually succeed. Do you think some people are meant to have a life of service? I relish that thought.
Today I am going to meet up with some friends and we are going to make Brighid’s Wheels for Oimelc. I am looking forward to every aspect of today, from gallivanting around the marshes for reeds, to washing and weaving them. Most of all though, I am looking forward to being surrounded by people I love and who also try to live their lives to the fullest. Few things recharge my optimist and spiritual batteries as much as time with friends (yes even us happy people run low on energy sometimes.) In this light, I can see why so many people in El Ravel were happy, they had each other.
Today I am grateful for my healthy smiling son (who is currently giggling and waving a diaper over his head,) my understanding and loving husband who is napping (after getting up at the crack of dawn to do diaper duty,) my friends who I will be enjoying the weekend with, my other friends who cannot come but who will be in my thoughts, my husband’s good job in this slow economic time, a food filled fridge and pantry, the returning sun and the whisperings of Spring throughout the land, wholesome people that inspire me by letting me know I am not the only one who thinks this way… and love, because I truly do believe it makes the world go around.