Happy Thought for 19 June 2025

Have a Happy Thought: 

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about how finding a flow state, or sitting quietly with your brain in its default mode network can help you find satisfaction or, dare I say, happiness in your day-to-day.

Another way to describe each of these is getting lost – in your thoughts, in your work, etc.

Another way to get lost is to find yourself in the middle of a puzzle, or maze. Or, perhaps, a labyrinth. (Maybe not this Labyrinth – unless this is your happy movie from simpler days?)

Image: movie poster of Labyrinth from 1986 starting David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

All of this mental meandering brings us to this wonderful website, which will help you find a real labyrinth close to you, to explore, get lost in, and perhaps find a bit of happiness along the way.

https://labyrinthlocator.org/

You can search by name, location, or just use an interactive map to find a labyrinth nearby. Here are a few that some of you may be able to visit:

 

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/monterey-community-of-christ/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/the-historic-valle-verde-ranch/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/cara-anama-house/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/cedar-hills-united-church-of-christ/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/kwantlen-polytechnic-university-langley-campus/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/carmel-college/

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/st-virgils-college/

 

https://labyrinthlocator.org/labyrinth/hutt-hospital/

What I learned in researching this: a labyrinth and a maze are technically two different things. Both of them are wandering paths that you take to get to the centre. In a maze, you are faced with branchings - choices that you need to make to try to get to the middle (or exit). A labyrinth only has a single path that is designed to take you around and around until you get to the centre – so you don’t have to make choices, you can just follow the path in contemplation. This is one reason so many labyrinths are at places of worship – they are a form of pilgrimage. (More excitingly – labyrinths have also been used to trap evil or wandering spirits, which according to legend have no choice but to follow the path to its end.)

 

More practically, a spiral-labyrinth at the end of a predator-proof fence, one that cannot be extended into the ocean, can help to keep predators from the protected area within. "The spiral leads predators running along the fence into traps and bait stations" at Tawharanui Open Sanctuary and Regional Park.​

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https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13935/predator-proof-fence

 

Happy wandering, and mānawatia a Matariki, Matariki me Puanga!