Small Things

Waking up when you didn’t remember it was Saturday

The tea at just the right temperature

The first sip of coffee on a cold, tired morning

When you are alone for the first time in some time, and the room is silent

Coming home, sitting down, removing your shoes and petting the cat

Entering a house from the cold outside when a fire is in the hearth

A bee on a flower, oblivious

A butterfly wafting where you cannot

When the rain starts and the heat is broken

When the rain ends and all is new

Eating the first cherry tomato, warm from the vine

The first flower peeking through the cold ground

The cat lying in the shaft of light; a book on your lap

Taking out the finished pie

A chocolate chip cookie, still warm and melted

The first cookie of Christmas, eaten while leaning against the counter in the warm kitchen

Happening upon a brook in the forest

When you arrive at the beach and hurry out to stand before the waves

A bird landing on a low branch, inspecting you

Wildlife in the garden, unaware you are watching

Walking out of the office on the day before vacation

Christmas Eve at midnight

Christmas Day, before the house has risen

Easter morning sunlight through the church windows

Pay Attention to the Sea

Today I borrow from a soulful blog, From the House of Edward,  to bring you this thought. I hope it can enrich your day, whether you find yourself facing the sea in person or in your mind.

Slow down.

Notice.

Remember.

When the breeze blows in from off the sea and finds you, stop for a moment to think about the way it feels as it brushes your cheek. Remember the salty fragrance of nature’s perfume. Let your eyes gaze out over and into the blue of the water till you can see that colour behind closed eyes in your sleep.

After all, none of us can remember what we don’t notice in the first place.

*~*

Capturing Joy

Image via Wikipedia

A favorite thinker of mine, SARK, has a knack for maximizing small moments for big effect. Her micromovement system overcomes procrastination in the blink of an eye, and she advocates taking (and making) tiny adventures everyday.

I believe in something similar: capturing the joy in mini moments.

What if your outlook on the day could be instantly improved? I am prone to think this is impossible magic, but I find, if I am open to the change, it is possible.

Here are some encapsulated joys that have made my week so far:

• The little dip in the road on my commute home that feels like riding my bike down a certain hill from childhood.
• Standing on the balcony on the final evening of a heat wave, anticipating the cooler air to come.
• Tasting homemade honey right out of the jar.
• The moment I looked out and saw the first flower I’d grown from seed since I was a kid.
• Savoring in-season raspberries while listening to hold music during my chaotic work day.

Each of these moments have made my days better. What if we even went a step further and recorded our captured joys often, or just whenever we felt like it? Then we could live the joys all over again.

What are some of your encapsulated joys?

Autumn Pastimes

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If you grew up in a temperate region, you had leaves falling at this time of year. Do you remember jumping in the leaves? Do you remember raking up the leaves into the biggest pile you could, only for the reward of jumping headlong into their earthy mystery?

Perhaps you didn’t have leaves, but you loved collecting pine cones.  You’d bring them inside and show an adult, as proud as if you had made them yourself. Or maybe  you played football every Thanksgiving, reveling in the crisp air and muddy ground.

Harvest time, no matter where you live, has magical powers. If you don’t believe this,  you may need to spend more time remembering how it used to be. Once you’ve done that, pick an activity and help encourage a child who may not know what wonders await outside, even as the days grow shorter.

Rake the leaves, even if you know you’ll have to do it again later. Glue some leaves together into beautiful placemats. Pick up the pine cones, and proudly display them on your Thanksgiving mantle. Head out for some football and return, out of breath, with rosy cheeks.

Seasonal pastimes are as close as your memories.

Why Backpacking?

Me, hiking PA's West Rim Trail

Two Sundays ago, I returned from a real-life adventure. There were glorious views and aching feet, midnight snow and evening rain, critter encounters and an injury. This adventure only took a few days and cost relatively little, but it plucked my husband and I out of our comfortable lives and immersed us more fully in our own survival. We went backpacking.

Some may ask why we would endure weather extremes, freeze-dried food, sleeping on the ground, and muscle pains. The truth is, there is a moment during every trip when even a seasoned backpacker asks themselves the same questions. However, the payoffs are legendary; just ask John Muir, hiker extraordinaire and father of the American park system. He exhorts us to “Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

Yes, it is good to “break clear away,” to work for your vistas and waterfalls, and for your comfort at day’s end. To build a fire – especially when it is hard to do. To have your breath taken away by the sight of something no person could make. To realize that all you need to survive you can haul on your back, and that all the stuff back at home is just window-dressing. And to know that you are blessed with lungs, senses, and thoughts, and that all of these things cost nothing at all.

That is why I go backpacking.

Making It Yourself

Let necessity be the mother of your inventions. When you have a need or want but would rather not spend, see what alternative you could make yourself. Examples:

• Recently, I was bored with my selection of pants, so I dug out the pair I had been unhappy with and figured out (with not much formal sewing knowledge) that I could make a little alteration. Voila – favorite new pants!
• Since all the billboards began popping up in September, I’ve been craving a pumpkin spice latte. Today I realized that there are usually internet instructions for store-bought favorites. Sure enough, I give you: DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte. It is cheaper than Starbucks, if you have the ingredients on hand and use the rest of the pumpkin for something else.
• Finally, something I can’t wait to try, courtesy of Martha Stewart: accessories made with old jewelry and ribbons.

One caveat: these do-it-yourself projects can become addicting. That being said, do you have any good and crafty links to share?

Making Do

There’s a Depression-era concept if ever I heard one: making do. How often, nowadays, does someone flatly proclaim that they will “make do”? It may be an attitude ripe for revival in our culture. Take me, for instance: I tend to whine about my current financial situation, but the truth of the matter is that there are blessings in making do, such as:

• Discovery. One of the first things one can do when faced with a money shortage is really using what one already has: reading the books on the shelves, wearing the clothes seldom worn, playing the games rarely played. It’s like shopping – in your house!
• Creativity. The other day, inspired by French tartine sandwiches on an episode of the Barefoot Contessa, I made mock versions with ingredients I had on hand. It made me feel chic – and cheap, in a good way!
• Contentment. While I certainly struggle with wanting things outside my reach, there are times of realization and satisfaction that I have all I really need, that I am blessed beyond a majority of the human population.
• Good, old-fashioned smugness. Let’s admit it: sometimes there’s a guilty pleasure in knowing you cheated the system and saved some dough, or simply that you can be just as happy with a lower cost of living than other people.

Can you think of other blessings to be found in making do with what you have?

Cutting the Beauty Habit

This one is especially for the girls, although guys can learn something as well. The lovebirds over at Young House Love have cut back on personal care products in some unconventional ways – see their post on the topic and the lively comment discussion.

Like this couple, I have all of my cosmetics in one small case, although it’s a mixed bag of natural products and drugstore staples (I love L’Oreal’s Bare Naturale mascara and Alba’s TerraTints mineral lip balm with natural color and SPF). Unlike them, however, I prefer my hair and body wash to smell differently than my husband’s; we don’t really share products.

What are your thoughts on the pared-down toiletry kit?

Green 2.0: Unusual Pleasures

 

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I am in the midst of swirling changes. On days like today, when my nerves feel wracked by many questions, I look for the unusual pleasures to be found, indoors and out.

Today, that pleasure is the slow, soaking rain. It was badly needed here in the Mid-Atlantic after a terribly hot and dry summer. But the unusual part is my particular pleasure in it, not for its utility but for the reassurance its steady dripping brings. While my world feels chaotic, the rain is predictable. It’s also soothing that the sky and the earth meet in a peaceful water-world; every problem has a solution, and every road will end with a peace such as this.

What is your unusual pleasure?

Green 2.0: The Little Things

Quick – what’s your simplest guilty pleasure? When I say simplest, I’m trying to cut out the usual answers – celebrity gossip, reality TV, bubble baths (all of which I totally understand) – and get to the joys we take in the bounty of the earth.

I just enjoyed one of mine. After putting honey in my tea, I like to use the warm spoon to eat a dollop of it. During that blissful moment in which the honey lingers on my tongue, I often think about how the flavor differs depending on where the bees made it. This encourages me to find local honey, because in addition to supporting local farms, I want to know what local honey tastes like – what here tastes like.

You can use your simplest pleasures to awaken appreciation for your natural surroundings. Like the beach? Think about why – your answer will probably lead you to gratitude for the sound of rhythmic waves, the invigorating, briny smell and warm sand on your feet. Like having your evening tea or beer on the porch? You may not realize it yet, but you likely enjoy the reliable approach of evening, with its soothing sunset colors, insect sounds and cool breezes.

The experts increasingly find that gratitude extends our lives and reduces that silent killer: stress and unhappiness. Even if you haven’t been drawn to nature in your recent memory, all is not lost.  Picture the first warm, sunny morning of spring, snow melting everywhere and birds singing. Is that you, smiling?