happiness is

Today is one of those days I feel so lucky to be alive, to be living where I am, to be content within.

At New Year a friend sent me a text wishing me, above all, "serenità", which apparently doesn't quite translate into English. It is serenity, peace within, but includes an abundance of happiness that also comes from within.

That's where happiness is found, within. When you feel that contentedness you find happiness in every tiny thing. Today, for me, happiness is a blue sky, a walk with the dogs, fungi growing on a tree trunk, a rockface of chatting climbers, a song in my heart and laughter in the voice of a friend.

Today I am grateful for my new life in Italy.