eat, pray, love...what's the word?

what an amazing book. blows the lost girls completely out of the water. some passages for thought...

1)  ''when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt. this is not selfishness, but obligation. you were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.''

these past few days in california (after one particular BAD day), i've sought and found happiness in the little things. sitting on the beach and reading my book. strolling through the park and noticing a marriage proposal chalked on the rocks. finding someone's seaweed-and-shells heart-shaped creation on the beach in big sur. endless free samples of clam chowder walking through the wharf. the unbelievable friendliness of the supermarket employees here. watching a production of willy wonka in the forest guild community theater in carmel. appreciating so much the approach of fall back home as the halloween decorations are starting to come out.

it really is about the little things.

i've decided i have a theme song for this trip - ''take it to the limit, one more time.'' this is like my last hoorah before it's time to return home and hit the pavement figuring my life out. in case you didn't figure, i've decided i will not be moving to cali, and i decided this while IN cali, and i think that says a lot...

2)  ''don't you know that the secret to understanding a city and its people is to learn-- what is the word of the street? every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. if you could read people's thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you would discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. if your personal word doesn't match the word of the city, then you don't really belong there. (rome = SEX. new york city = ACHIEVE. los angeles = SUCCEED.)

i think milton's word would be FAMILIAR, or perhaps, COMFORT. maybe that's just because it's home, and home is absolutely, and should be, comfortable and familiar. newburgh's (at this point in the city's history anyway) would be VIOLENCE. here in pacific grove, calif i'd say the word is either CHARM or SATISFACTION.

i haven't the slightest clue what my personal word is. i don't think i can have only one word (HAPPINESS, maybe, that's what i'm striving for at least), but rather i think i shall choose an entire lexicon.

what's the word in your city? better yet, what's your word?