That is such a cute phrasing! I love it when non-native speakers unintentionally gift you with idiomatic phrases from their own language, or made-up phrases... being only a quasi-native speaker of English myself, I often found that the literal translation of something German was a more appropriate expression of what I wanted to say, and my truly American friends, all linguists, also appreciated these calques!
I will hopefully get some sewing done, but I really have too much work to do these days.
Irrigating your Joy. Sounds like you will have a great visit with these couch-surfers! Life is so complicated that I decided recently to narrow my focus and put my energy into those things, mostly just little things, that literally bring me joy. Like having a well tended garden. Or mastering a challenging knit stitch...or finishing one of many quilts waiting in the wings.
I love that phrase...it's a keeper for sure. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that things in life SHOULD irrigate one's joy, otherwise, what's the point? I'm going to have to think on that a bit more to weed out the stuff that robs me of my joy.
you know @poet, it's so funny, i didn't think of it as a direct translation, but it's probably exactly that. either way, i'm utterly charmed and convinced. @truestory - i'm totally with you. we currently are hosting a most marvelous couchsurfer. i want to keep him. @celkalee i'm glad you didn't mention purl. :-) @stephanie - i have to think more about it too...i'm not sure i'm completely in touch yet. i'm more in touch with what's NOT irrigating my joy and i'd like to be in touch with the positive side...
Firstly, I really do love your pictures. There is a power in them. Irrigating Joy is a wonderful phrase, I will remember that. I blog as well and feeds my joy in a big way. It simply gives me a platform to get perspective and that is such a joyful experience for me. Anything that allows me to connect to truth is joyful. That comes from time with my friends, time with me and time learning something new.
a couchsurfing couple from the canary islands who will be biking to our house on july 1 (that's quite a trip!) sent me a message yesterday. at the end, they thanked me for irrigating their joy. and i fell in love with the phrase and decided it's going to be my theme for the summer. any activity that doesn't irrigate my joy will have to go.
here's how i intend to irrigate my joy:
~ writing
~ taking photos
~ spending time with sabin and her horse
~ working in the garden
~ processing the garden bounty
~ sewing
~ making things
~ meeting and talking to new people
~ long, laughter-filled evenings with friends and good food
~ getting involved somehow in my local area
~ follow through on a few of the balls currently in the air
and i'm looking very much forward to meeting these enthusiastic people who came up with such a phase.
6 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formThat is such a cute phrasing! I love it when non-native speakers unintentionally gift you with idiomatic phrases from their own language, or made-up phrases... being only a quasi-native speaker of English myself, I often found that the literal translation of something German was a more appropriate expression of what I wanted to say, and my truly American friends, all linguists, also appreciated these calques!
I will hopefully get some sewing done, but I really have too much work to do these days.
June 22, 2011 at 11:29 AM
I have to say Couchsurfing is one of the best things that ever happened to me! I hope this couple turns out to be fun.
June 22, 2011 at 11:51 AM
Irrigating your Joy. Sounds like you will have a great visit with these couch-surfers! Life is so complicated that I decided recently to narrow my focus and put my energy into those things, mostly just little things, that literally bring me joy. Like having a well tended garden. Or mastering a challenging knit stitch...or finishing one of many quilts waiting in the wings.
June 22, 2011 at 12:42 PM
I love that phrase...it's a keeper for sure. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that things in life SHOULD irrigate one's joy, otherwise, what's the point? I'm going to have to think on that a bit more to weed out the stuff that robs me of my joy.
June 22, 2011 at 5:38 PM
you know @poet, it's so funny, i didn't think of it as a direct translation, but it's probably exactly that. either way, i'm utterly charmed and convinced. @truestory - i'm totally with you. we currently are hosting a most marvelous couchsurfer. i want to keep him. @celkalee i'm glad you didn't mention purl. :-) @stephanie - i have to think more about it too...i'm not sure i'm completely in touch yet. i'm more in touch with what's NOT irrigating my joy and i'd like to be in touch with the positive side...
June 23, 2011 at 12:10 AM
Firstly, I really do love your pictures. There is a power in them. Irrigating Joy is a wonderful phrase, I will remember that. I blog as well and feeds my joy in a big way. It simply gives me a platform to get perspective and that is such a joyful experience for me. Anything that allows me to connect to truth is joyful. That comes from time with my friends, time with me and time learning something new.
June 26, 2011 at 8:16 AM