Writing my way through the A-to-Z blogging challenge, I’ve tasked myself with exploring the concepts of pronoia (the belief that the universe is conspiring to shower us with blessings), quiety (serenity) and peace – all through the lens of unusual, obscure, or simply delightful-to-me words.
D is for… dedoleate, a 17th century word meaning “to cease to be unhappy.”
It’s my belief that part of our work here is to tend to the garden of ourselves. We need to clear stones and obstacles so our roots can grow deep; we need to nourish and enrich our soil; we need to keep ourselves deeply watered and angled toward the sun; and we need to weed out that which isn’t supportive.
Life is not always easy, that’s for certain. There is endless noise and chaos; things not preferred; surprises that unsettle us and cause wobbliness; institutions and policy that encourage separation and value personal profit over everything. People get sick; friends leave us; accidents happen; hearts and bodies get weary. This is the world we live in; and this is the world we need to find ways to navigate through.
I often speak about my personal mission to keep my feet on the joy trail. It’s not because I wish to don blinders to the very real concerns of our planet and those inhabiting it, pretending I don’t care. My life has been painted with sadness and difficulty, just as all our lives have. But I don’t think those have to be the only garments in our wardrobe. I think we can make choices to invite more joy, more happiness, more balance, more beauty into our lives, and in doing so make those things just a tiny bit more available to everyone else in the collective as well. We can offer a momentary glimpse of something that might inspire someone else to hold a bit more light. To help them turn away, if just for a moment, from the noise and anger and irritableness that has increasingly become the norm.
I believe we need to turn our faces to sun more – both literally and metaphorically.
I love what Brian Swimme has to say:
“The Sun, each second, transforms four million tons of itself into light, giving itself over to becoming energy that we, with every meal, partake of. For four million years, humans have been feasting on the Sun’s energy stored in the form of wheat or reindeer, as each day the Sun dies and is reborn as the vitality of the Earth. Every child of ours needs to learn the simple truth: She is the energy of the Sun. And we adults should organize things so her face shines with the same radiant joy.”
Isn’t that a powerful and beautiful admonishment?
We, too, have only so much energy to expend in this life. Our time here is finite, and we’re constantly making choices about how we’re spending it. I’m suggesting we choose more consciously. That we lean into joy, into kindness, into radical radiance.
What might that look like for you? What gift can you give yourself today that contributes to the collective good as well? How might you become a dedoleate disciple today? Do tell – you know I’d love to hear.
What a great word to know about. Thanks for sharing it here.
How might I lean into joy more? Well, I think for me the answer lies in moving more. That is, walking more, sitting less. And doing so without any metrics [distance, time, weight loss] because I find that nothing steals joy faster than keeping track of my progress in a numerical way.
So, to cease to be unhappy, today I’ll move to my own beat, confident that any healthy walks that I take are doing me good and that I’ve spent my time wisely.
What a lovely intention, and I hope you were able to lean into that joy.
O goodness, I feel already uplifted Deborah thank you .. I love the metaphor of tending to our own garden within, getting rid of dead wood and weeds that don’t belong there, watering our souls with nourishing food and thereby also influencing the collective, of which we are a part. More consciously, we can welcome that which is good and true and beautiful. Give the sadnesses their due …and water them also so they can turn their faces to the sun ..
I am nourished by your posts thank you 🙂
http://www.gardenofedenblog.com
I think it is a very uplifting principle to try to “be less unhappy”. A lot of people who are angry are really sad underneath and their sadness has turned to rage.
Thanks to your post I am sitting here in the sunshine under my Velux window and smiling 🙂
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings – Shapeshifters and Werewolves
What a lovely image I’m getting of you Tasha. Enjoy the sunshine and help keep spreading it.
Storytelling. Every time I tell, I feel like I am doing something good for the world, and it never fails to cheer me up to pass the stories on 🙂
The Multicolored Diary: WTF – Weird Things in Folktales
It really is a precious gift – and I’m so glad you’re doing it.
I’ve heard it takes less energy to smile than it does to frown so I’m choosing the happy path by sharing those smiles as much as I can. Difficult word to say, dedoleate, but the meaning is great!
Way to go Janet!
What fun! I chose to dedoleate long ago, and I’ve never regretted it. 🙂
Good choice, and I’m happy you made it.
Hi Deborah – I keep as positive face as I can now … and don’t sink into a morass of worry and anxiety … it helps keep my spirits up – and obviously everyone is happy to talk to someone happy and not a miserable blot in the human groupage!?!
After my cloud comment yesterday – the grey mass got sucked out to sea and we had a lovely evening… today has been glorious!
Cheers Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/d-is-for-ducks-dabbling-diving-domestic.html
At best our happiness can be contagious, but at the very least it holds us in a vibrational frequency that is uplifted. And what’s not to like about that?! So glad you’ve been having a glorious day. I wish you an endless string of them Hilary.
I have plenty of times where I have to remind myself not to wallow or that if I’m to be happy I have to BE happy. Not always easy.
~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Not necessarily easy, but always worth the effort don’t you think?
Well that’s a great word. I’m adopting it.
It’s always fun to find a new “keeper.” Thanks for stopping by Jacqui.
A little bit of angst keeps the happiness leavened, but otherwise, sadness doesn’t flatter me, so I avoid it as much as I can. 🙂 Great word, dedoleate.
Nilanjana
Madly-in-Verse
I love how you express that Nilanjana – leavened happiness! Here’s to keeping that unflattering sadness away.
Dedoleation is an excellent path to tread. And the more we dedoleate ourselves, the more we might inspire others to do the same. Thanks for that word – I love the sound of it too!
I love the sound of it as well Curtis. And here’s to keeping our feet on the path.
A lovely post, and timely as the springtime days grow longer and more sun-filled. I find happiness in the small things–a cat curled on my lap, listening to the trees rustle while walking through the forest. Some of these joys get worked into my writing, and it is my hope that somewhere, somebody will find joy in what I write.
That’s the beauty of it isn’t it Sara? We fill our cups and then we spill a little here and a little there, making it available to anyone who wants to drink. We may never know who we touch but it matters not at all.
“I think we can make choices to invite more joy, more happiness, more balance, more beauty into our lives…” I totally agree. There are some who can’t do this due to depression or other reasons, but for those of us who can choose to invite joy into our lives we definitely should. 🙂
Also, I love that dedoleate exists – a word for “cease to be unhappy” instead of just being happy. It doesn’t sound like a big difference at first, but it really is.
Here is my “D” post 🙂 http://nataliewestgate.com/2017/04/descent-secret-diary-of-a-serial-killer
Yes, I, too, love that active quality of choice in dedolate Natalie. For those of us able, let’s always choose to “cease to be unhappy” whenever we can.
Your writing is so beautiful. I love the imagery you paint with your metaphors–“tend to the garden of ourselves.” Yes! Thanks for your uplifting words and positive theme.
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Gail Park
Making Life an Art
What kind words Gail – thank you! And I certainly appreciate you stopping by. Wishing you all the best.