Number 87: Accumulated Merits

I have been thinking about how to meet my goal of reflecting on 'different things' this year, when I have been meeting up with my special friends for more than a decade. We circle, which is sending time together and appreciating all that means. I have also been to Hermanus many times, I have seen whales in the bay before too, I have eaten at Bientangs Cave too.

So...

"Marvel Diver" and
Sharon, Natalie, Bev and Sharon loving the beauty of a few days in Hermanus.

Number 87:

Accumulated Merits.

In a year of traveling far and wide, what is different for me is seeing and experiencing what I know with a child-like delight and feeling as though it is the first time. My few days in Hermanus with my dear friends was an exhale, I had left my heart behind in New Zealand and felt its integration for the first time and the exhaustion of endless travel is abating.

Natalie shared a Buddhist concept with me, 'Punya or merits' - it is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts... And I felt these merits; glorious weather, rainbows, whales, friendship, gifts, good food and wine, a roaring fire, marvelous sculptures, walks along the Cliff Paths, luxurious sleeps, sitting quietly with a mountain view and breathing deeply.