Ordinary Happiness

In his new book "Seven Pleasures" Willard Spiegelman writes: "Happiness has received less respect and less serious attention than melancholy, its traditional opposite."  One theme of his book is that ordinariness can bring about more pleasure than we realize.  The striving for happiness in our society can cause us to overlook the riches of the familiar and ordinary.  C.S. Lewis in grieving the death of his wife Joy describes his desire for "the tiny heartbreaking commonplace."  Yesterday was Mother's Day and my favorite part was the traditional brunch my family assembles - all were there.  My daughter working in NYC came home and daughter #2 just finished her college exams.  Just to hear all the commotion in the kitchen with my husband directing 2 young women and a teenage son to get the meal prepared and on the table was priceless!  Then we sat around our formal dining table with family and 2 roommates from UVA talking and laughing.  Perhaps the secret to happiness is slowing down enough to find that the most common, ordinary events, like sitting at the dinner table, is surprisingly rich... for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.