Thomas Merton wrote: “Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony.” I found myself nodding internally as lovely words “balance”, “rhythm”, and “harmony” fell into my heart. And I also found myself stumbling over the word “order” and wondering whether it belongs on this list.
Yes, order can be a thing of great beauty, a system that holds together our life and the meaning making at its core.
And yet, so often happiness reveals itself in the midst of a transition, which is, by definition, a walking away from order, breaking free from the limitations of old order, and imagining of and wrestling to create a new one.
One construct that resonates with me in this space is Richard Rohr’s framework of order-disorder-reorder, in which growth requires movement from one stage to another.
Another framework that is potentially helpful in examining the relationship between happiness and order is good old Myers-Briggs. According to it, the connection between these two will be different depending on your innate preference that determines whether you naturally gravitate towards order in your life and how you view it. It still seems that there might be some more universal truths that should be applicable to human beings regardless of their psychological type.
… Is order a pre-requisite for happiness? I obviously don’t know the answer, yet I love playing with the question. The only seemingly appropriate way to end a reflection on a subject with which I continue to wrestle is to fall back on another quote that strikes the elusive balance between admiration for order and recognition of its limitations. Umberto Eco wrote:
“The order that our mind imagines is like a net, or like a ladder, built to attain something. But afterward you must throw the ladder away, because you discover that, even if it was useful, it was meaningless.”
My name is Maria Fafard and I am grateful to meet you. I believe that travel in the physical world is often a symbol for seeking in the realm of mind and spirit, and that wherever we are, countless gifts of joy and wonder are offered to us every day – but we have to be present enough to look up and accept them. You can follow me on WordPress (mariafafardwrites.wordpress.com) and on Twitter (@mariafafard).
The picture was taken during a retreat in Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville VA.
I am Still Learning... 
Nice words at a time when I rush for now 2 month from deadline to deadline with for at least 3 more month no light at the end of the tunnel. From a glass darkly despite the floods of pathetic, tacky x-mas lights surrounding us,
US-style like, the trend, more is better, my best wishes to you. Beijos Leena
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