A Wonderful Life
As I sit in my living room this New Year’s day I am experiencing feelings of gratitude, possibility and magic. I want to share this feeling with you in case you have been feeling bogged down by all the suffering in the world. If you are alive there is reason for great hope.
The first source of the new found feeling of well being comes from a book recommended by a fellow Auschwitz Zen retreat sojourner. The book is called, “The Happiest Man on Earth-The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor” written by Eddie Jaku. At the time of writing this book he was 100 years old and living in Australia. Eddie went through the worst of it in Europe during the time of rampant anti-semitism and describes his experience leading up to Auschwitz, his internment, and afterwards. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are feeling hopeless about the state of the world. If Eddie can find joy given all he’s gone through then that is also a possibility for us.
The second source of inspiration for the joy and magic I am feeling this morning is from Suleika Jaouad. Suleika is a bright, heartfelt, creative woman who was struck down in her early 20’s with cancer. She turned her ordeal into gold through writing and art as a NewYork Times columnist and author of “Between Two Kingdoms”. I am in her online writing group and this morning she sent out this message:
When the ceiling caves in, it’s easy to feel hopeless. When we read the news and see so much suffering—all our manmade atrocities, our wars and our politics, our fears and our fury—it’s temping to descend into despair. But the truth is, we live in a beautiful world, full of joys big and small, full of moments of magic. And it’s important to turn our eyes to those moments of magic, and even to cultivate them—not as a head-in-the-sand moment, not as escapism, but as a necessary reminder that suffering isn’t all there is. There is goodness and kindness and joy and light. There is magic—the tiny miracle of a delicate wisp of a bird nibbling on a strawberry in your palm.
If you are disparing about the state of the world as I have been I hope you find as much comfort and inspiration in the writing of these two brilliant souls. If we want more light we need to first become that light. It is my prayer and wish for you in this new year, that you are warmed by the glow of your own light and that you effortlessly let it radiate throughout your environment.