Friday, July 3, 2020

Do it yourself

The other day, I offered up photos of a beautiful sunset and sarcastically asked how I could tolerate living in such meager conditions. Then, by coincidence, a friend presented an essay that articulated part of the answer.
What if enjoyment is a skill that you can improve? 
Not a personality trait, but a skill. 
I don’t mean to confuse enjoyment with happiness — I think happiness is too big to be a skill — and something that is largely our of our control — but what about enjoyment — what if enjoyment is simply the skill of putting joy into an experience? 
That would be a skill worth learning, wouldn’t it?

The skill of putting joy into an experience. Not just finding joy, but actively creating it. Wow, we can do that? I can do that? Maybe I have been. Maybe it’s what keeps me sane.

The friend is Patrick E. McLean. That’s him over on my book list. We used to work together. He’s much more dedicated to his writing than I am to mine, and therefore much more successful. Here’s the link to his essay.

6 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness where does one begin; at a minimum the man needs goggles not googles to protect is eyes!

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  2. Great photo!

    McLean's pretty cool.

    Thanks!

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  3. After further readings of McLean, I like your blog better. And you have fewer typos.

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  4. Friendship is not a writing contest. It is two people who value each other and what that person has to say. Even professional publishing companies often have spelling and grammar errors in books. Plus not everyone receives an equal education in school and the context of spoken language in the homes they grew up in can vary widely in a country that has a lot of diversity of people in it. I myself am a 1st generation citizen, some of the older generations in my family struggled all their years in the US with grammar, spelling, etc.

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  5. I loved that essay, it really spoke to me.

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  6. Very much worth the read. The essay articulates my own attitudes.

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