For several years, I’ve been practicing whatI call The Delight of the Day. Each day I watch for moments that inspire a strong feeling of gratitude and joy within me. I mentally label the strongest such moment The Delight of the Day. The practice encourages what psychologists call “positive scanning.” I’m waiting for good things to happen and, when they do, I notice and celebrate them.
Find something that brings you joy and do it frequently – maybe even >gasp< every day. Increase your pleasure by reviewing what you’ve done on a regular basis.
Here are my Delights for this week:
Scanning my paintings
I love to paint. I love choosing my brushes, getting out a paint tray and paper and watching the colors blend. November is Art Every Month, so I indulge myself. Then it’s holiday time and I think about other things. In January, I return to painting and it feels like sliding into a hot bath at the end of a busy day.
Yesterday, I scanned the paintings I’ve done in January. There are practical reasons for this step but I realized yesterday that it allows me time to look at and appreciate what I’ve done. I get the delight of the painting day and then another delight as I look at what I accomplished. I enjoy zooming in on parts of the painting, noticing details. This is one reason we love taking photos –we can relive the original moment.
Is there something you love to do? If not, try a bunch of things and find some. If so, is there a way to do it more often? Is there a way to capture the experience and re-experience it later?
It was my birthday! We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant and spent time as a family. New experiences with people I love are fun.
Had a phone conversation with my big sister, who lives 700 miles away. We don’t do this very often (why not?). I enjoyed catching up and basking in her presence.
Something I was reading clicked neatly together with some ideas I had been thinking about. The whole was greater than the sum of the parts – I love that about ideas.
I painted and understood new things about open space.
A migraine threatened the evening before, but disappeared with daylight. Yay!.
We slept in on a weekday as my daughter had no school. Guilty pleasures!
May you find delight in each day.
