awe & delight
If you have been in writing group with me, you know I am a fan of Ross Gay’s, The Book of Delights. (If not, buy it for yourself and everyone you know). In it, he shares an essay a day that he wrote over 100 days featuring a delight. Try a list of things that delighted you today. No science, just the noticing that when we look for delights, small moments of unexpected joy or surprise...we too seem to lighten. It sparks more of the noticing.
Today I read an article in the New York Times on awe. Lots of juicy science here and a new book by Dacher Keltner that lays it all out.
I feel like delight and awe may be sweet cousins?
Let me know the last moment you felt awe struck or sparks of delight you’ve come upon.
Children cause this awe in me many times. And the Mallorcan Beach (Spain) Calo Des Moro. Nature is truly awe inspiring.
I remember an exercise in a workshop where we listed "days of delight" and named about a dozen things that delight us. Then there was a series of questions that followed, some of which I can't remember but a couple of the questions were, "When was the last time you did that one?" "Does it cost money or is it free?" "Do you do it alone or with someone else?" "When do you anticipate repeating this or that one?" and so on. For me, each day delights or relights the possibilities that lie ahead so waking up is perhaps small, but nonetheless a significant delight for me and I never use an "alarm" clock. Not the way to start my day! I can look outside right now at a sun-filled garden with trees and flowers and I am delighted to be present in the moment.