Mindful wisdom that dates back to Ancient Greece
I came across a new word recently – Meraki – a Greek word that loosely translates as putting your heart and soul into what you are doing.
What a lovely thought! We spend so much of our lives being busy. We have a to-do list a mile long so we finish things as fast as we can and then onto the next. But what are we really creating? Can we proud of what we’re doing? Can we see ourselves in our own work?
Meraki isn’t about perfection. It’s about feeling passionate about what you are doing, giving it your undivided attention and caring about sharing the results with others enough that you do your very best. It has links with Mindfulness as when you’re being creative you should really treasure the moment. In fact in Greece the word “Meraklis” is given to those people who live life to the full day in day out and make the rest of us feel quite jealous.
How can we adopt the Meraki principle in our daily lives? Whilst easier for Creative people such as artists and writers – the concept of Meraki applies to the small things in life. A classic example is the pleasure that can come from making an evening meal that you worked hard on as a sign of love for your family. But you can also apply it to aspects of your day to day work. After all if Ancient Greece gave us some of the best philosopher’s in history, then why can’t that report you’re working on be something you’re proud of too!
For me, I’ve decided to start with planning out 1 thing I will do every week that I will do with Meraki. I will give it my undivided attention and really care about the end results. Last week that was making some Chocolate Brownies that I wrapped up in beautiful paper and ribbon as a gift. This week I’m focusing on creating a training exercise that I really want to be proud to share with people. It’s a small start but I’m already feeling a sense of achievement and a clear mind.
I think Meraki could be this year‘s answer to Hygge. Failing that it’s still the best thing to come out of Greece since I discovered Souvlaki
