![\"hanging](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1293-768x1024.jpeg?resize=584%2C779\")
<\/figure>Recently I\u2019ve been thinking about an advanced form of gratitude, with no statistics and no predictability such as you get with my usual suggested exercise<\/a> of listing five things you are grateful for. We\u2019ve practiced those, or at least been told we should practice them. However, as I\u2019ve been \u201cdoing my gratitude practice,\u201d which sounds almost boring as a mandate (although it really isn\u2019t when one does it), I\u2019ve realized the words \u201cthanks\u201d and \u201cgrateful\u201d are limiting in day to day experiences. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n There is another dimension, an expansion if you will. I am grateful for rain. We \u201cneed\u201d it. I won\u2019t have to water our new forsythias. In some parts of the country, people are simply thankful that water flows into reservoirs and streams or that the forest has an extra layer of dampness. But is \u201cgrateful\u201d the right word for our feeling of thanks for how a Spring rain smells? Or how raindrops sound on the roof? The distinction I\u2019m now making is that while I may be grateful I can hear and smell the rain, when I actually notice the sound and smell of rain I\u2019m really experiencing delight. Loving the smell. Enjoying the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By paying attention, you can begin to play with delight as a distinction. As you notice what is happening on top of, so to speak, your gratitude, you can actually claim delight. Try this as an extended practice of noticing or as a component of being present. What are the elements of something you like that take you beyond just being thankful for whatever it is in itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you start playing with the word delight, you will find that sometimes an experience of it will just appear. You are just walking along or cruising the internet or cooking dinner. Suddenly you feel a lightness in your heart or you smile in unexpected happiness. This delight catches you off guard. This is the delight you can\u2019t scientifically look for as a verbal distinction as we did in the above paragraph. Why did I feel delight when I noticed my housemate\u2019s artist aprons hanging on the door? They suddenly just brought joy. Or walking by a neighbor\u2019s yard and seeing her planter on a tree. Was it inviting summer? And mushrooms? There they were! And the feeling wasn\u2019t there when I found some others to photograph as an image for this post. (Later I did find one of the original ones and that is the picture I am using.) Or cruising Facebook and learning that a baby platypus is sometimes called a puggle, a word to delight in all by itself, even if a bit of research gives \u201cpuggle\u201d some other uses and platypus babies some other names.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n As you continue to notice, you might discover delight can go deeper. On one of my first Uber rides in over a year, my driver took a small morsel of food out and explained it was the right time to break his fast for Ramadan. This was unexpected and I felt honored to be a witness, to be included in this multi-cultural world. In one action my world expanded. And I was delighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past few months I\u2019ve heard many people say that they seek joy. One way to claim joy is to be open to it showing up (it really is that simple). Since I\u2019ve started this distinction about delight, I\u2019ve been pleasantly caught off guard. For me, a component of delight is joy. And it goes both ways. Feeling joy is one way I recognized delight and so name it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A lightness of heart. Being suddenly brought to a standstill. A smile. What \u201csymptoms\u201d do you associate with delight? Think about it. Where did you last find delight? Was it unexpected? Recognizing and claiming delight is one of the unsung features of being present, calm, and productive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d love to know how you experience delight. For me, right now, just exploring how we encounter it is well, a delight! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Join me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________ Be grateful. We repeatedly run into references, share links and memes, and seek out the statistics around the benefits of being thankful. Gratitude changes how we experience the world, promotes happiness, and increases effectiveness. And that\u2019s just for starters, so … Continue reading ![\"Hanging](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1270-768x1024.jpeg?resize=584%2C779\")
<\/figure>![\"Mushroom](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/IMG_1283-150x150.jpeg?resize=150%2C150\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
All photos by Spirit Moxie. From the top:
Basket on neighbor’s tree
Artist aprons on door
Unexpected mushroom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"