Cooking with others or for others like today and enjoying the meal all together is pure fun; being in nature in all its blossoming fullness nourishing heart and soul and watching a little girl playing vividly and so creatively in simple gestures with the handpuppets offered made her mother and me just laugh.. 🤩
Lately I am finding joy in doing some gardening at our new home. I planted tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. We learned the former tenant here was a master gardener so we have berries growing. Strawberries and Raspberries also. Lots of beautiful plants and flowers all over too.
The question has come up . . .
what is joy?
and what is delight?
I see delight
as small pieces,
arrows-to-the-heart joy,
while full-blown joy is more like ecstasy.
While I have experienced full-blown joy,
my heart
could not survive long
being held in a constant state of ecstasy.
Don’t get me wrong . . .
I treasure those moments
and hold on to the precious experiences that they are;
it’s just that I cannot live there.
Delight
is more scaled for the human being that I am right now.
Keeping a gratitude journal every day
has made finding joy in the simple things
a habit,
a practice as unconscious
as my heart beating or my lungs breathing.
Delight
suits my simple mind,
and brings softness
into what the ‘civilized’ world
calls progress and ambition,
and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
I delight in the praying mantis I saw in the garden,
that the second egg hatched in the robin’s second nest,
in the scent of the grass this morning
when my neighbor mowed his lawn.
Anything can delight me
and delight gives me pleasure,
which enters my being
and becomes a part of what I contribute to the world
on any given day.
It matters.
Watching the birds on our bird bath, enjoying fresh veggies and fruit from local farmers, reading a poem to my husband or hearing him read one to me, looking at clouds, a drink of cool clear water when I am thirsty… and the list goes on.
I track my list of “today’s delights” in my journal. Delight isn’t as high a bar as joy, and I find delight fairly easily, by paying attention. Delight can come from riding through a spot where I smell something sweet blooming, or seeing an eagle soaring above, or really good coffee first thing in the morning. Joy arises; I don’t seek it, so it isn’t a matter of finding it.
I distinctly remember a specific occasion when I was in college. I was walking along the sidewalk heading home from class. It was autumn and big old maples that had turned brilliant, sunshiny gold lined the walk. The leaves coated the ground and drifted down, the sun illuminating the trees from behind. I looked at that shining path and felt something I immediately labeled a bubble of joy. It rose and expanded inside my chest until I wanted to float up or explode in fireworks, or both. I tend to save the label “joy” for that intensity of feeling.
Lovely image, “bubbling up and expanding.”
Several images flashed in my brain with your words: burning embers, a campfire and a forest ablaze…yet they are all fire.
When I can adjust my stance to one of gratitude and gratefulness, joy seems to find me. It’s been there all along and nothing has changed except my attitude. It’s not always an easy or even a possible task. Life can really pile it on. Obscuring even the most simple and joyful things. But right now, sitting here in contemplation with a cup of coffee, the early morning sun lighting up the olive tree, watching hummingbirds come and go, giving my cat some pets, feeling grateful that I have an easier workday and I am able do some things around the house, has me feeling joyful. And grateful.
Thank you for the insight… joy, it’s been there all along and only your “vision”/ attitude changed.
I will try to realize that shift, next time numbness descends.
Charlie, I’ve noticed a pattern emerging in both our responses. You with grattitude and gratefulness is like me with integrity and purity. They all go together.
Charlie, this is very profound to me:
“When I can adjust my stance to one of gratitude and gratefulness, joy seems to find me.”
Thank you for sharing it with us.
I find joy in many things & most are simple in my opinion.
Washing my face with clean cool water.
My morning coffee & toast.
Listening to the birds singing away.
Moving my body, yoga.
Prayer.
My long walks, noticing all the delights Mother Nature has placed on my path.
The sun, clouds, moon & stars.
There is so much beauty & joy all around me. I just need to be present for it all.
Happy Friday All.🕊️🩷
The song from Johnny Appleseed came to mind. Oh the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need (not want) the sun, the moon, and the Appleseed.
The crunch, warmth, and nutty flavor of the cinnamon raisin toast I’m eating. The richness of the flour, which is heirloom and regionally milled; the thought and care that went into growing and selling this flour. The tang of the sourdough that lives in my fridge, which I tend to regularly. This warm cup of Iron Goddess of Mercy oolong tea, gently sweetened, smooth, golden. The stories and delicate care that this tea holds. When I slow down, I can see these simple things are rich with dimension.
I really love my 1st cup of coffee every morning.
I love how excited my dogs are first thing in the morning when we greet them. They’ll usually stay on their beds (in the living room) until we get up, and we go snuggle on them before starting our day.
There’s a certain scent in the air here that I adore. I don’t know what it is, and I thought it was something that was only in the mountains… I remember it from when I was a little girl and we’d go visit family in Greeneville, TN, which is maybe 2 hours north of Asheville. I smelled it again when we moved to Western NC for a bit last summer, and it really makes me happy. I was so excited when I noticed it here in Charlotte. I wish I knew what it was!!
Sitting in on a Zoom gathering to discuss the Yoga Sutras every Thursday is something I always look forward to. The philosophy of this practice is beautiful.
Butterflies, birds, bunnies, and deer sightings.
Getting and giving hugs and that exchange of energy.
Sunnypatti– I am about halfway through reading “The Secret Power of Yoga” and I am really enjoying it! Thanks for the recommendation. I often spend about 10 minutes reading it, side by side with a different translation of the Yoga Sutras, before bedtime.
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! And I love that we have a commentary from a female perspective. I also appreciate that there are so many commentaries in general; I think it really helps with the understanding of the guidance that Pantanjali has offered. I hope to have all of the commentaries one day 🙂
Joy in simple things.
My morning cup of tea or coffee as I look forward to my day
Washing my face and putting on moisturizer and sunscreen,
with a loving touch as I care for my face.
Petting my cats, each with a preferred manner of being petted,
from extra gentle around the head and face,
to a firmer full body petting which leads to stretching and bunny kicks on a favorite scrunched mat.
As I write this I am in the waiting room at the hospital.
My husband, Mark, is having a heart catherization today,
after previous testing showed what could be a blockage.
I am grateful that we have the insurance so that he was able to have testing
and now this more invasive testing with the placement of a stent likely.
Having worked in cardio as an RN for 20 years,
seems to make him more nervous rather than confident.
So he is being prepped,
and I am sittings here with my iPad wring to you,
while I wait to see him before the procedure.
Watching for the small things where I might find joy in this day.
Wishing all a gentle day filled with the joy of simple things.
I am a simple man. I find joy in all things that our world provides. The grasses in the hay meadows have pollinated and the red clover is blooming. The air smells good and when the breeze carries the floral scent my way, it is a simple pleasure. Joyful even. When the wind carries the scent, the grasses and clovers wave in the wind. Green waves of forage. Food for the countless pollinators. Bumble bees, honey bees, yellow tiger swallowtails. black swallow tails. little white and some small yellow butterflies. Simple pleasure. Joyful even. We are eating radishes, lettuce and spinach from the vegetable garden. Sweet peas will be next. Along with basil. Simple pleasures. Joyful even. In a chaotic world, in which most chaos if manufactured by human kind and quite unnecessary. Peace, love and some simple pleasure. Joyful even. Namaste.
Today seems to be full of powerful and fragrant scents today,
dear Joseph . . .
“joyful even”.
Here,
right now,
I have the fragrance of fresh-mown grass
wafting in my open window . . .
they should make a perfume of it.
Namaste. ♥
Simple things are where I find most of my joys. My first cup of tea this morning, the long walk I’ll take later today, hearing my kids’ voices or spending time with them, a really good book. Joy finds me anywhere and everywhere, most often when I’m not looking for it.
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Joy = the sunrise each morning, the smell of fresh cut grass, the goofiness of my dog, the array of nature, walks with hubby, and the night sky.
Cooking with others or for others like today and enjoying the meal all together is pure fun; being in nature in all its blossoming fullness nourishing heart and soul and watching a little girl playing vividly and so creatively in simple gestures with the handpuppets offered made her mother and me just laugh.. 🤩
Lately I am finding joy in doing some gardening at our new home. I planted tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. We learned the former tenant here was a master gardener so we have berries growing. Strawberries and Raspberries also. Lots of beautiful plants and flowers all over too.
The question has come up . . .
what is joy?
and what is delight?
I see delight
as small pieces,
arrows-to-the-heart joy,
while full-blown joy is more like ecstasy.
While I have experienced full-blown joy,
my heart
could not survive long
being held in a constant state of ecstasy.
Don’t get me wrong . . .
I treasure those moments
and hold on to the precious experiences that they are;
it’s just that I cannot live there.
Delight
is more scaled for the human being that I am right now.
Keeping a gratitude journal every day
has made finding joy in the simple things
a habit,
a practice as unconscious
as my heart beating or my lungs breathing.
Delight
suits my simple mind,
and brings softness
into what the ‘civilized’ world
calls progress and ambition,
and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
I delight in the praying mantis I saw in the garden,
that the second egg hatched in the robin’s second nest,
in the scent of the grass this morning
when my neighbor mowed his lawn.
Anything can delight me
and delight gives me pleasure,
which enters my being
and becomes a part of what I contribute to the world
on any given day.
It matters.
Yes, this!
❣️
Hmm, I wonder, does the awareness of something delightful bring you any joy?
I would guess yes,
dear Cathie . . . ♥
Watching the birds on our bird bath, enjoying fresh veggies and fruit from local farmers, reading a poem to my husband or hearing him read one to me, looking at clouds, a drink of cool clear water when I am thirsty… and the list goes on.
I track my list of “today’s delights” in my journal. Delight isn’t as high a bar as joy, and I find delight fairly easily, by paying attention. Delight can come from riding through a spot where I smell something sweet blooming, or seeing an eagle soaring above, or really good coffee first thing in the morning. Joy arises; I don’t seek it, so it isn’t a matter of finding it.
I distinctly remember a specific occasion when I was in college. I was walking along the sidewalk heading home from class. It was autumn and big old maples that had turned brilliant, sunshiny gold lined the walk. The leaves coated the ground and drifted down, the sun illuminating the trees from behind. I looked at that shining path and felt something I immediately labeled a bubble of joy. It rose and expanded inside my chest until I wanted to float up or explode in fireworks, or both. I tend to save the label “joy” for that intensity of feeling.
Lovely image, “bubbling up and expanding.”
Several images flashed in my brain with your words: burning embers, a campfire and a forest ablaze…yet they are all fire.
When I can adjust my stance to one of gratitude and gratefulness, joy seems to find me. It’s been there all along and nothing has changed except my attitude. It’s not always an easy or even a possible task. Life can really pile it on. Obscuring even the most simple and joyful things. But right now, sitting here in contemplation with a cup of coffee, the early morning sun lighting up the olive tree, watching hummingbirds come and go, giving my cat some pets, feeling grateful that I have an easier workday and I am able do some things around the house, has me feeling joyful. And grateful.
Thank you for the insight… joy, it’s been there all along and only your “vision”/ attitude changed.
I will try to realize that shift, next time numbness descends.
“…giving my cat some pets…”
When I first read this,
dear Charlie,
I wondered what kind of pets you give your cat . . .
mice,
maybe? 🙂
That made me chuckle out loud!
Charlie, I’ve noticed a pattern emerging in both our responses. You with grattitude and gratefulness is like me with integrity and purity. They all go together.
Charlie, this is very profound to me:
“When I can adjust my stance to one of gratitude and gratefulness, joy seems to find me.”
Thank you for sharing it with us.
I find joy in many things & most are simple in my opinion.
Washing my face with clean cool water.
My morning coffee & toast.
Listening to the birds singing away.
Moving my body, yoga.
Prayer.
My long walks, noticing all the delights Mother Nature has placed on my path.
The sun, clouds, moon & stars.
There is so much beauty & joy all around me. I just need to be present for it all.
Happy Friday All.🕊️🩷
The song from Johnny Appleseed came to mind. Oh the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need (not want) the sun, the moon, and the Appleseed.
The crunch, warmth, and nutty flavor of the cinnamon raisin toast I’m eating. The richness of the flour, which is heirloom and regionally milled; the thought and care that went into growing and selling this flour. The tang of the sourdough that lives in my fridge, which I tend to regularly. This warm cup of Iron Goddess of Mercy oolong tea, gently sweetened, smooth, golden. The stories and delicate care that this tea holds. When I slow down, I can see these simple things are rich with dimension.
I really love my 1st cup of coffee every morning.
I love how excited my dogs are first thing in the morning when we greet them. They’ll usually stay on their beds (in the living room) until we get up, and we go snuggle on them before starting our day.
There’s a certain scent in the air here that I adore. I don’t know what it is, and I thought it was something that was only in the mountains… I remember it from when I was a little girl and we’d go visit family in Greeneville, TN, which is maybe 2 hours north of Asheville. I smelled it again when we moved to Western NC for a bit last summer, and it really makes me happy. I was so excited when I noticed it here in Charlotte. I wish I knew what it was!!
Sitting in on a Zoom gathering to discuss the Yoga Sutras every Thursday is something I always look forward to. The philosophy of this practice is beautiful.
Butterflies, birds, bunnies, and deer sightings.
Getting and giving hugs and that exchange of energy.
Sunnypatti– I am about halfway through reading “The Secret Power of Yoga” and I am really enjoying it! Thanks for the recommendation. I often spend about 10 minutes reading it, side by side with a different translation of the Yoga Sutras, before bedtime.
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! And I love that we have a commentary from a female perspective. I also appreciate that there are so many commentaries in general; I think it really helps with the understanding of the guidance that Pantanjali has offered. I hope to have all of the commentaries one day 🙂
Yes, I really appreciate having this commentary from a female perspective as well!
Joy in simple things.
My morning cup of tea or coffee as I look forward to my day
Washing my face and putting on moisturizer and sunscreen,
with a loving touch as I care for my face.
Petting my cats, each with a preferred manner of being petted,
from extra gentle around the head and face,
to a firmer full body petting which leads to stretching and bunny kicks on a favorite scrunched mat.
As I write this I am in the waiting room at the hospital.
My husband, Mark, is having a heart catherization today,
after previous testing showed what could be a blockage.
I am grateful that we have the insurance so that he was able to have testing
and now this more invasive testing with the placement of a stent likely.
Having worked in cardio as an RN for 20 years,
seems to make him more nervous rather than confident.
So he is being prepped,
and I am sittings here with my iPad wring to you,
while I wait to see him before the procedure.
Watching for the small things where I might find joy in this day.
Wishing all a gentle day filled with the joy of simple things.
Sending positive energy for your husband Mark with a successful procedure and a speedy recovery
Thank you Michele! It went quite well.
Namaste Mary.
Namaste to you as well, Joseph. 🥰
I am hoping for the very best outcome for your husband,
dear Mary,
and pray that if you can’t find full-blown joy,
you can experience delight. ♥
Thank you, Sparrow! It went quite well. ♥️
I hope that the procedure goes well, Mary! Sending love to you and Mark.
Thank you Elizabeth! It did go well.
Dear Mary, sending you & Mark love.
Prayers for you both. 🙏🏻🩷
Thank you, PKR. I appreciate your prayers.
Blessings to you and Mark as you navigate this medical procedure and recovery.
Thank you, Yram. 🥰
Mary, wishing your husband a smooth procedure and fast recovery.
Thank you Drea!
May all go well for your husband’s procedure. Sending prayers and peace for you both.
Thank you, SunnyPatti! ☀️
Nature, children, music
Happy Friday everyone 🙂
I am a simple man. I find joy in all things that our world provides. The grasses in the hay meadows have pollinated and the red clover is blooming. The air smells good and when the breeze carries the floral scent my way, it is a simple pleasure. Joyful even. When the wind carries the scent, the grasses and clovers wave in the wind. Green waves of forage. Food for the countless pollinators. Bumble bees, honey bees, yellow tiger swallowtails. black swallow tails. little white and some small yellow butterflies. Simple pleasure. Joyful even. We are eating radishes, lettuce and spinach from the vegetable garden. Sweet peas will be next. Along with basil. Simple pleasures. Joyful even. In a chaotic world, in which most chaos if manufactured by human kind and quite unnecessary. Peace, love and some simple pleasure. Joyful even. Namaste.
Today seems to be full of powerful and fragrant scents today,
dear Joseph . . .
“joyful even”.
Here,
right now,
I have the fragrance of fresh-mown grass
wafting in my open window . . .
they should make a perfume of it.
Namaste. ♥
I love how you are about finding joy in your property and all its bounty. I can just about smell all the beauty!
Simple things are where I find most of my joys. My first cup of tea this morning, the long walk I’ll take later today, hearing my kids’ voices or spending time with them, a really good book. Joy finds me anywhere and everywhere, most often when I’m not looking for it.