Enjoyment—that word itself is hardly used. Enjoyment is seen nearly as a sin for some people. "You're not here to have fun, you're here to work." Why can't work bring joy? Any tiny moment can be enjoyed: the feel of warm running water when you wash your hands; light and shadow on the floor; pictures in the clouds; the feel of an old book. If you see an old friend, that can bring pure, tingly joy for which there are no words.Today I was watching episode 50 of a Korean "variety show"—what Americans would call a reality series—and someone is decribing a Korean word based on a Japanese term (or phrase) that they ranslated as "small but certain happiness." Trying to find the original writing in English, I came across the article [Trending] #Small but certain happiness #小確幸 It's from a 1986 essay by Haruki Murakami (Western name order, on that one) called "Afternoon in the Islets of Langerhans." The article, describing the essay, says his examples are:
...eating a freshly-baked loaf of bread with one’s hands, seeing neatly folded underwear in a drawer, wearing a new shirt that smells like clean cotton and letting a cat enter into a bed with a rustling sound.So in retrospect, as decades have passed, maybe there will be a word. There's a word in Korean. 小確幸
Abundance and gratitude "If it's not one thing, it's another." People usually say that of problems or frustrations. But what about gourds, and little girls, and music, and humor? If you practice finding abundance, if it's not one thing, it will be another. photo by Cátia Maciel |
Gratitude for everyday thingsSpoons. Flush toilets. Roofs, walls, doors. Paper and lights. Colored markers.  SandraDodd.com/gratitude/chairs photo by Sandra Dodd |
