![\"X\"](\"http:\/\/hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/X.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI can\u2019t remember the word game that Christina, my wife, and I were playing when we started having a discussion of words that are known that are not in the dictionary. The word that Christina highlighted in this discussion was the word, \u201cXanadu\u201d. She was convinced it was a real word. I was not sure. So we looked it up in our dictionary and lo and behold it was not listed there. We both agreed that the definition fit what we thought it meant. It even fit the movie\u2019s title, though I don\u2019t remember much about it. <\/span><\/p>\n Now the task in my Life\u2019s Choices mind was to determine in all the places that I\u2019ve been, where is my Xanadu? This is a hard decision to make. I can certainly find places of great beauty such as in Nottingham forest when I was in England, or in the Botanical Gardens that I\u2019ve seen, but they\u2019re not luxurious and though I found some contentment\u00a0there, the locations near traffic and other unnatural noises, wasn\u2019t very lasting. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for contentment, there are mountains of Shenandoah, being with Christina and David on walks, being by myself at times, just relaxing at home with Christina after our hectic schedule pauses for a bit. In most of those places, there is neither luxury nor great beauty. Though Shenandoah would fit that bill.<\/span><\/p>\n To me, my Xanadu doesn\u2019t have to be luxurious. I seek my contentment with places of beauty, with people I love and want to share it with. It is a place I can go to leave behind the stresses and responsibilities of life and be comforted. It\u2019s not a place I have to be in all of the time. But a place I know exists that I can rely on being there when needed. <\/span><\/p>\n My Xanadu doesn\u2019t need to have all of the characteristics of its definition. Each piece of its definition manifests itself when appropriate. Therefore, I have many Xanadus. They are for me what I need them to be and are hopefully within walking distance at those times when I need them. <\/span><\/p>\n To me, Xanadu is not only a word now found in newer dictionaries\u00a0but a real place that if I try hard I can see and be at. So where\u2019s your Xanadu? <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Xanadu I can\u2019t remember the word game that Christina, my wife, and I were playing when we started having a discussion of words that are known that are not in the dictionary. The word that Christina highlighted in this discussion … Continue reading <\/a>But I had remembered a movie with Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John called, \u201cXanadu\u201d <\/span>http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0081777\/<\/span><\/a> so maybe it was only the name of a movie. That would explain it not being in the dictionary. Christina was adamant, \u201cNo, it was a real word\u201d. This required looking at other sources. Luckily this was the time when the Internet was in existence. In searching \u201cXanadu\u201d out, the movie was found in the search results, but also an online dictionary definition:<\/span> noun. 1. a place of great beauty, luxury, and contentment. 2. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>I\u2019ve certainly found luxury, as in the wedding in New York City we attended for my cousin\u2019s son, where we got to stay in a hotel room overlooking Columbus Circle, where the wedding was at a fancy synagogue\u00a0and reception at the New York Public Library. It had bits of beauty but the crowds and schedule we had to keep left more awe than contentment. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>So where does one find one\u2019s Xanadu? Is the goal in life to seek it out and find it as an end place? Or is it something we strive for, as we go through life, never to find completely, but keeping us focused on reaching for the idyllic in order to improve ourselves? <\/span><\/p>\n