Whimsy

 (also whimsey) noun (plural whimsies or whimseys) playfully quaint or fanciful behavior or humor: the film is an awkward blend of whimsy and moralizing. • a whim. • a thing that is fanciful or odd: the stone carvings and whimsies.

In reading Melville’s Moby Dick this morning, I came across this phrase – ‘wild whimsiness’ – and I instantly thought it sounded like a fine way to live. Being playful with life is what life wants me to do – to frolic and romp more than fear and hide. I need to live more with caprice than with caution, more like an eccentric than a conformist.

I see some of this ‘wild whimsiness’ in this photo of Delycia with my daughter Annie and grandson Louie.

Annie and Louie are staring, perhaps in disbelief, as Delycia, in a moment of wild whimsy, hurls a stone high in the air over the Mystic River. She is usually a person of calm and quietness, but yesterday beside the river, her secret and wonderful whimsiness worked a miracle and sent a small stone soaring.

STEPS TOWARD INNER PEACE
03/20/19
 
A closed book on your bed 
could be the first step 
toward inner peace.
There could be quiet whimsies
inside it, 
and truths restfully pacing along. 
It could be like a saucepot
of feelings and thoughts
that stir you up in a romancing way 
to take further steps
toward an adored panacea,
toward the solace that’s always dancing,
and always waits.