Red

After several weeks of cancellations and postponements, I am out morris dancing again tonight. Our side's colours are red and green - like the bright summer splashes of poppies in a field of waving grasses.

I have been thinking a lot about happiness over the past few days - about how it is so easy to be distracted by temporary amusements and to miss out on the things that make us truly happy in the depths of our souls. Yesterday's Solstice celebrations were true happiness: the sunshine, the flowers, the connection to the changing of the seasons; taking the opportunity to be outside in the real world, not trapped inside in front of a screen; spending time with the person I love most in the world, and creating something together. This is what happiness should be. It's about grasping opportunities, about not getting lazy and mistaking junk happiness for its true, effervescent, life-changing counterpart.

As a challenge to myself over the coming months, I want to try to reconnect to that happiness by making an effort to do one "outside the box" thing every week - or more, if I can. That means not being trapped in my routine, but taking the opportunity to go and read by the lake in an evening, or to start a craft project just because I feel like it, or to learn something new, or to connect with a friend just because I can. It can be anything, but it has to be something that carries the possibility of shaping true happiness in my life.