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"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."
It is often quoted as the wish of the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. In a few short lines, it sums up a philosophy of life that many people aspire to follow. Emerson believed in living an authentic life and being true to oneself. He was also adamant that happiness was essential to such a life: "Nature has no twilight; she goes direct from morning to night."
Within our busy lives with work, home, and social commitments, it can often be difficult to find time just for ourselves. It is especially true if life involves children, a partner, and pets. To find time to be happy and content, it is important to experiment with new ways of being.
"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."
And for those who wish to follow this precept, there are simple ways of doing so:
"Where ever you go, go with all your heart."
"Stay healthy. It's free." "Take a shower. Seriously." (This is not meant as an argument against taking showers.)
"Spend some time thinking about how lucky you are to be alive with all the things that you have and all the people that you love. And spend some time thinking about how lucky you are to be living in a place that lets you go wherever you want to go and do whatever it is that makes you happy."
"Happiness can't wait. Happiness knocks once, then keeps knocking."
If only for a short period, what better way is this than to take the time out of your life so that you can have the freedom to explore all that life has to offer?
"Listen all ye people: if there's a fire (or other kind) in my heart, I'll light it myself. If my dreams don't scare you, they'll do you good."
"To live is the rarest thing in the world; most people just exist."
"And all at once, silence and emptiness–the best things for a man: no doubt about it. But still, he's best off forgetting them completely and living without remembering."
After this, Petrus went on to live with his wife and children in close harmony with nature and on his land. He sold the farm a few years ago. One of the new owners, who now runs the farm, told me that Petrus often visits and even helps when he can. He also adds that Petrus went to Australia with his wife, but he never returned. He died several years ago.
The farm's new owner told us that the only thing he can remember about Petrus is that he loved walking in the rain and always carried a big stick.
I read this book by Peter Molyneux, a British game designer who also worked on the Myst series of games, and it was an easy read. He starts with an analogy between smoking and playing computer games as a hobby: "Imagine you're going to go out onto your balcony to enjoy a cigarette – because let's face it, you're not happy without one.
You look out, and it's been snowing. And you're thinking 'Hm, I'd better start walking to work as it's sure to be slippery.' (that's how I got here: reading a book). However, you're fond of the exercise and reluctantly decide that a jog on the spot where you knew there was a patch of ice might work – and so you kick off your shoes, throw on your jacket and start running through the snow.
But after a minute or two of hard trotting along smoothly underfoot, you spot something that looks suspiciously like an iceberg... You suddenly find yourself careering off into the air and crashing into an ice-cold bath that causes you to lose consciousness. When you come to, you realise that it's not so bad laying there, and you wonder whether to try again. This time was enough for me... I enjoyed the writing style and the way he managed to explain his ideas about what a game designer does. But even though the book was fascinating, I had a hard time trying to put it down..."