A few weeks ago, I decided that every day should include at least one hour of what I most want to do. I schedule these hours and honor my schedule. It’s often late afternoon, but it can also be early evening. It’s a promise I made to myself to keep joy and meaning in my life in a time of discontent, violence,  and hatred.

Life and change can boil all around me, but my hour is separate from that- it’s all me, all alone and all quiet.

“Out of that time,” writes Joan Chittister, “comes the lifeblood of the soul that dispels the gloom of all its darkest parts.” God save me from gloomy priests and politicians.

This task calls out to me louder and more precisely than almost any other, except love and good: I am resolved to find joy every day and to share it with others through writing, reading, taking beautiful photos, and asking others to help me, and they do good.

Every day, I pause to consider what I most want to do and set aside an hour.

Sometimes, it’s taking pictures, reading a novel, sometimes meditating in silence, bringing a blanket or a book to a resident of the Mansion, walking in the woods with Maria, or just talking with her. Sometimes, I sit in a chair outside with Zip on my lap and Zinnia at my feet.

Zip gets bored after 10 or 15 minutes and disappears; Zinnia stays at my feet the whole hour. Sometimes, I walk with her.

Sometimes, it’s nothing but drinking from the sweet bowl of silence.

To me, this is spiritual nourishment,  food for the soul, energy for my work, and ideas for writing and photography. It keeps me floating in the raging stream that life can often be. I never want to get used to life or take it for granted. I never want to lose my spirit or my soul. I owe this to myself and to the people I love.

I call this the blooming of the self, and if I can pull it off, I see it as one of my most significant accomplishments. ” If you are losing this leisure, ” wrote Logan Pearsall Smith, “it may be you are losing your soul.”

I see this in the angry people who would tear us apart and choke on rage and grievance.

Not too long ago, I was losing my soul.

Out of the joy and energy I have discovered comes all the good I might do and all the joy I have to pass on to others in my writing and life. Today’s hour of things I love will be at 4 p.m. I’ve got a plan. I so look forward to it.