The Art of Living

I like this phrase. I suppose there are different meanings attached to it but to me right now it means doing what can be done with the resources available to live as gracious and civilized a life as possible in all the tiny daily details. Here is a quote from young Anne Frank's Diary describing a few of those details as she and her family and others hid out in very close quarters for 2 years during WWII suffering all kinds of anxieties and privations under constant threat of capture and death.

I talk more to myself than to the others at mealtimes, which is to be recommended for two reasons. Firstly, because everyone is happpy if I don't chatter the whole time, and secondly, I needn't get annoyed about other people's opinions. I don't think my opinions are stupid and the others do; so it is better to keep them to myself. I do just the same if I have to eat something that I simply can't stand. I put my plate in front of me, pretend that it is something delicious, look at it as little as possible, and before I know where I am, it is gone. When I get up in the morning, also a very unpleasant process, I jump out of bed thinking to myself, "You'll be back in a second," go to the window, take down the blackout, sniff at the crack of the window until I feel a bit of fresh air, and I'm awake. The bed is turned down [made] as quickly as possible and then the temptation is removed. Do you know what Mummy calls this sort of thing? "The Art of Living" -- that's an odd expression.

It seems to me Anne Frank grew up a great deal under these circumstances, where others would just complained and been miserable. I have a lot to learn about this art.