Delights – Bringing home a big stick

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.

The leaves are turning in my Minneapolis neighborhood. Green leaves are shifting to golds and reds and browns. I have been appreciating the beauty and mourning the summer with the shrug-of-the-shoulder-and-sigh regret of a long time Minnesotan. Yesterday I realized that, unlike earlier autumns, I hadn’t brought any leaves indoors. Now, I have a small pile of leaves on my desk.

I felt a little materialistic guilt about that. Why is it, I wondered, that we humans feel like we have to own beauty? Why did I want these leaves on my desk instead of outdoors beneath the tree where they belong? What empty hole was my grasping greed trying to fill?

Then I saw a neighbor dog heading home with a large branch in his mouth. Since our apartment building allows dogs, I have more canine than human neighbors. I always delight to see the big dogs wagging their way home, tails up, heads high, teeth clenched around their arboreal trophies. I’m not talking little sticks here, either. The dog I watched today had to set the branch down every few feet to get a better grip and continue on. His owner watched and waited fondly.

Suddenly, I felt better about my leafy acquisitions. They sit beside my desk lamp to remind me that I am an earthly creature, hanging on, shifting color, dropping and dying…Then changing form to find new life.

Some delights from this week: