Emodiversity: The Essence of Meraki Explained
Emodiversity Word of the Week
Meraki. {Greek} To do something with the "essence of self". Meraki is when you pour your essence and energy into doing something with creativity, passion, and love.
Meraki is a special and beautiful rare word that brings with it a feeling, it stirs an emotion.
When someone prepares a meal with meraki, with love and care, you can literally taste it. When you walk into someones home and you can feel the love and intention, it's meraki. When you read a book written with deep thought and devotion by the author, you can feel they wrote with meraki. And, when you have a conversation with someone who it truly being present in their words and how they listen, it's meraki.
With meraki, you leave a piece of yourself in everything that you do and with everyone that you engage with.
So, how do we embody meraki? A beautiful mindful practice is to check in with yourself before you begin a project or have a conversation or start an activity. Ask yourself, how can I add some meraki to this? How can I spice it up with creativity, passion, and love? How can I be more present, make it more meaningful, and how do I pour more of myself into what I am creating?
Meraki is not just a word, it is a way of being.
I find that I know I am embodying this when ideas spark, when I write in flow, when I'm in nature and my mind opens to seeing surprising and beautiful elements. And also when I am with my girls, minds and hearts open, and we play a game of "let's find things around us that are unexpected." It turns into really seeing the world around us and always brings loads of laughter.
As Camilla Eyring Kimball once wrote, “You do not find the happy life. You make it.”
As we move into this new season, this new year, let's do it with meraki. It will create a deep presence that leaves layers of intentional waves and will touch everything you put your energy into.
Your Mindful Reflection Question (comment below): In what specific areas of life do you want to intentionally add meraki?
