Here’s to the simple things for the coming year

HiHat’s father Jake infamously once said “I think everyone should do what they want all the time” at their family dinner table (and then got up to watch football). On New Years eve, as we presided over the beautiful kitchen full of wine and recipes, as the boys played music, and as Janelle shucked oysters, I had a conversation with dear Sara (who is my personal guru even if she doesn’t know it). She said: “You know what? When Jake said ‘I think everyone should do what they want all the time’, that’s basically the translation of the chant we do: Om lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu– may all the beings in all the worlds become happy with simplicity and intention”. First of all, any friend who can weave sanskrit interpretation into cocktail conversation and have it come off as moving and relevant is a real keeper. Secondly, living simply with intention focusing on the things that truly make you happy? That seems like a good way to go. I usually don’t make resolutions just for the sake of New Years, but this year I’m going to resolve to continue do what makes me happy with who makes me happy. For Example…Then you’re set. Promise.

Thanks to my other dear friend Sara, from half a world away, for the first quote.

Author: loiseaufait

Little by little the bird feathers its nest, and object by heart burnished object we surround ourselves with lovely necessities of memory and function. It is these things that make a silly Apartment a Home or a silly Wednesday an Occasion. Whether my nest is an old farmhouse, a sixth floor tenement walk up, or a brownstone basement... whether I share it with family, vagabonds, women of heart and mind, or a little brown cat and a sweet ginger banjo, my principal joy is filling it with light and laughter (and corralling). View all posts by loiseaufait