Three unconnected thoughts today – or are they?
IN DEFENSE OF FAIRYTALES
A problem with this world
is that too few believe in fairytales
and too many reduce them to magic and swords.
It has never been about slaying dragons,
but about learning that if one only spoke their tongue,
one would find even a dragon is someone.
— Elizabeth Knight
DUST IF YOU MUST
Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there,
With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go – and go you must –
You, yourself, will make more dust.
–Unknown
Yutori (ゆとり)
The conscious act of slowing down to allow us to savor the world around us. The refusal to rush.
No talking. Just absorbing the world around us with no goal except to see.
Spaciousness.
In Japanese, yutori (ゆとり) literally conveys a sense of roominess, margin, spaciousness, or ease. It is often used to describe having enough time, mental space, or emotional breathing room to appreciate life without being constantly hurried.