This lovely missive was in my email inbox today, from Michael Larsen of the San Francisco Writers Conference. The sentiments expressed are perfect not only for writers, but for anyone who wishes to live a more perfect life.
Thank you, Michael, for keeping it real, and see you in February. 🙂
A Wish List for Perfect Days
In memory of my brother Ray,
a San Francisco Writers Conference benefactor, who had many of them.
If your days were perfect, what would they be like?
Your list will be different, but it might include:
Inside
- having harmonious personal and professional goals that motivate you to do whatever it takes to achieve them
- putting short-term goals in the service of long-term achievements with enduring value
- living as simply as possible, as if every day were your last
- knowing what enough is and earning it with daily effort
- loving what you do so much you don’t notice time
- balancing
–desire and necessity
–giving and having
–time and money
–thought and feeling
–comfort and the need to create and serve
–serving others and yourself
–sitting and moving
–screen time and the rest of your life
–work, home, and leisure
–ownership and access
–sound and silence
–planning, flexibility, and spontaneity
–imbalances created by the need to focus on an activity
–yin and yang
In the World
- filling your days with challenges that inspire your creativity
- seeing opportunities in change, problems, and the unexpected
- earning and enjoying the respect, admiration, friendship, and support of everyone you know
- expressing gratitude through giving and service
- having time and money to devote to the people, ideas, projects, and organizations you’re passionate about
- learning about what excites you and what you need to know
- laughing and making others laugh
- making decisions, knowing that that money, technology, and other forms of power are useful tools but destructive masters
- meeting your responsibilities as a citizen of a neighborhood, city, state, country, and the world
- transforming anger about problems into positive action
- needing no contact with the legal, medical, or corporate world, government, or large institutions, except to try to improve them
- being able to work anywhere
- helping strangers who can’t help you
- celebrating your achievements
At Home
- waking early, after an uninterrupted night’s sleep, next to your beloved, knowing the best way to use the day and eager to start it
- having a home that has charm, character, and a garden, and that is filled with love, light, color, art, music, and books, and that enlightens, entertains, and inspires everyone who enters
- spending time with a family that is a source of love, renewal, encouragement, and wisdom
- loving and needing the joys of domesticity but not letting them lessen your courage, discipline, and determination to pursue the dreams you were born to fulfill
- sharing simple, varied, beautiful, colorful, delicious, nutritious, locally produced food
- having a spiritual practice that brings you peace of mind
- being at peace with your significance in 400 billion galaxies
- living in a place that’s safe, good for raising children and provides privacy, diversity, a sense of community, natural beauty, a creative environment, access to culture and kindred spirits, local and independent sources of products and services, effective schools and government, full employment, freedom from want, a climate without extremes, planned growth that enhances the quality of life, community involvement, and the freedom to live as you wish
- renewing your sense of wonder at the beauty and grandeur of nature
- reading books you love without being disturbed, with Bach or Mozart providing the soundtrack
- working in your garden growing the fruits, vegetables, and flowers
- using only what you need and minimizing waste
- exercising your mind and body
- understanding the value of people, information, and experiences and giving them the attention they deserve
- having patience with others and yourself
- being debt-free and saving for the future you want
- experiencing no form of marketing
- doing all you can as well as you can and expressing your gratitude for the day
- making love as if it were the first time and the last
- renewing yourself with sleep that begins the moment you snuggle your beloved
What makes a day perfect is subjective, but unlike this list, it’s likely to be simple. May every day be as close to perfect as you can make it. Like a rose, you were born to bloom. Now is the time to start doing whatever is best for you and becoming who you were born to be. As Anne Frank wrote: “It is never too late to start doing the right thing.”
Please feel free to share this list. I hope it inspires you and those you love to make a list and share it. This list will always be a work in progress, and I’d like to learn from yours. Many thanks for your time.
Michael Larsen
