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. The more I understand what brings me joy, the more I can drop into it.
In Minnesota, we are moving into autumn. Realizing that my days of getting outside are numbered, I went out to the woods last Saturday.There were wheelchair-maneuverable trails through the trees. I could lean back with branches arching over me and breathe in the green stillness.
This morning, thinking about making that experience my Delight of the Day for the Week, I remembered Shakespeare’s Greenwood Tree song from As You Like It. I looked up the words (took a detour through the non-meaning of Ducdamè), then the Donovan song I remember, then skipped through YouTube and other Greenwood songs. The 21st century is a wonderful place to be for someone like me who loves learning and research.
It’s fun to imagine Shakespeare stepping out of a time machine and witnessing his work alive 500 years after its conception.
Delights follows delight fallows delight…
Some delights from this week:
The aforementioned walk in the woods
A group of people being generous and open to joining another group of people
Meditation – right now, I am just breathing
Learning about examples of advocacy.
The sound of the wind through dry leaves.
Trying to encourage a fly to go outside.