I am noticing that sometimes it can be the very small things that help keep me connected to the joy in my life:
Washing the breakfast dishes…one glass, one plate, one fork at a time. Warm running water and soap. And then shining up the kitchen sink afterward.
A warm shower. Washing my hair.
Putting on some pretty earrings…maybe even a little lipstick.
This morning I brushed my teeth with a brand new toothbrush head for my electric toothbrush.
Washing the bedsheets and making my bed up fresh.
Small things that bring a little comfort and order to the moment.
A cup of coffee.
(Did I mention a cup of coffee?)
A powerfully written passage in a really good book that makes me want to stop and read it again. And then again.
A text from a friend.
Looking out the window in the evening and watching how the sky is changing.
Lighting a candle. Saying a little prayer. Gratitude. Thanks is a prayer. Help and Wow are also prayers. (I learned this from Anne Lamott. Smart lady.)
Laughter. I’ve discovered that a real laugh is a banishing spell for evil spirits, whatever form they’re taking. Whenever I find myself actually laughing out loud, it’s like a reset button. A belly laugh shakes everything loose.
Nothing monumental. Nothing earth shattering. Right? And really, nothing new. But these things, if I let them, can help keep me grounded and centered…and present to whatever is happening. More open.
Sometimes life comes in huge, amazing leaps: finding ourselves in love, getting married, ending a relationship, having a child, moving, buying or selling a house, starting a new job, leaving a job behind, facing a loss. Those happen, and they definitely move us into a brand new place. It’s good, too, to notice the everyday miracles…the things that give us space to breathe on a day to day basis. Those are the things that nourish us for when the time for the “big leap” arrives. A simple cup of tea can be medicine for depression…so can a song.
“Have you never been happy, just to hear your song?,” Olivia Newton John would sing. (I’m telling my age now, but I’ve told it before.) I hadn’t heard that song in such a long, long time. Then, one day, out of nowhere, I heard it in a shopping mall at a time when I was feeling so lost and alone it felt like it was suffocating me. The song buoyed me up. It said, to me, that the universe was hearing me. It gave me just a little space to listen to my own heart. You might not call that a miracle. But to me, in that moment, it was absolutely miraculous.
These are the things that can get missed…or pushed aside. We call it coincidence and walk on. These are also the little things that, if we’re present to them, can guide us. They can remind us how supported we are and what’s worth appreciating.
When was the last time you just let yourself be confused for a little while? Or just let yourself rest and listen? When was the last time you simply said “yes” to however you were feeling and didn’t try to fix it right away? We live in a world that is sometimes so loud we can’t hear ourselves over it. We don’t even really know how we feel because we’re running roughshod over that to try to get to where we’re going. That is…where we think we’re going.
I, for my part, have just enjoyed a dark chocolate mocha and I’m sitting here writing this note, which is every bit as much for myself as it is for you, Dear Reader. When I’m finished with this, I’m going to read a bit from The Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease because it speaks to what I need right now.
In some ways it’s rather simple, right?:
Eat when you’re hungry, rest when you’re tired, be kind to yourself when you’re feeling sad or overwhelmed or lost or confused. Let yourself be exactly where you are. Just for now. Because it will change. Guaranteed.
Bingo!