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Think for a second of something you really enjoy that’s small, seemingly insignificant, and lasts only a few moments. Maybe it’s slipping into a hot tub of water or sliding into bed on a cold night. Perhaps its sipping from a cup of coffee clasped in your hands. Or maybe it’s the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen.

I thought about the small and overlooked joys of life recently as I opened my box of Pittman&Davis tangelos. I ordered them myself, so their arrival wasn’t a surprise, but it was still a pleasant uplift to find the box on my front stairs on morning. I cracked it open, and inside were a dozen perfectly-ripe tangelos nestled in green wrapping, ready for me to eat.

It may be hard for people to imagine these days, but it used to be a big deal to get citrus and other out-of-season produce at “off” times of year. I was born in 1962, and still remember the joy of finding an orange in my stocking on Christmas morning, because citrus in winter was a treat.

On a cold winter day, a slice of juicy tangy tangelo is like devouring sunshine. 

LOST MOMENTS OF DELIGHT

The truth is that I know it’s the stuff I take for granted every day that ends up being an opportunity missed. I plan and anticipate the bigger events and frequently disregard those daily pleasures. But since days are positively filled with those, this indifference is akin to missing life altogether, don’t you think?

The same goes for each of us. We can get lost in the “to do” list, the news, and our plans of the future so much so that we disregard the everyday-ness of living. 

I say it’s time to stop! (I’ve firmly banged down my fist on the desk as I say this.) As of today, at this moment, I plan to stop, pay attention and honor at least ONE moment of delight each day.

Right now, in fact, as I sit at my computer, I’m enjoying the transition from nighttime to an amber dawn, which I can enjoy from my window. The roof across the yard is covered in white from an early-February snow. Naked tree branches spindle every which way against the palette of dawn colors creeping up.

In a few minutes, I’ll step away from my office to go and pick up my grandchildren. They will greet me at their door, ready for the day full of energy for school and daycare. The delight of that time with them is immeasurable.

How can I possibly feel anything but gratitude in all of this?

A CHANGE OF VIEW

I didn’t know when I started to write this post that it would become a new manifesto for all things small and valuable, but even in that sudden discovery there is pleasure.

I can’t take credit for this epiphany, however. It’s part of the collection of joyful details that have come my way in the last 24 hours. I discovered this giddy delight in the small things while reading “My Life in France” by Julia Child and her nephew Alex Prud’homme, where she describes the gorgeous elements of her life in Paris with her husband Paul in the 1940s.

And, definitely, this epiphany was also a take-away from a new episode of This American Life titled “The Show of Delights.” Podcasts are a joy and I’m a particularly big fan of This American. The Delights episode will entertain and give you pause to consider your own delights. Act 3 where Miki Meek interviews her 72-year-old mother Noriko about finding delight late I life is especially good. The story shines a light on why The Golden Years can be so luminescent.

As I’m writing this, right at this second, I’m changing my own opinion about our tendency to photograph our food and all the other seemingly-curated moments shared social media. Now I consider this our effort to be creative and a way of documenting and sharing even the smallest delights of our lives.

Perhaps, in short time, I’ll enjoy another sweet tangelo from the Pittman&Davis box and make note of the tangy smell as I tear away the peel. I can already feel the lift of spirit in just listing some of those small delights, and suspect making a steady habit of noting them will improve my sense of well-being.

So, my goal is to savor and document more moments of tiny delights, and I encourage you to do the same for yourself. You and your universe will benefit.

JOURNAL PROMPT YOUR WAY TO DELIGHT

What is your moment of delight today? Describe it and what it represents to you. Don’t judge your description or its meaning, just note it.

If we are the sum of all the little parts of our lives, what might your small delights reveal about you? You decide and describe. And remember that all of these descriptions are perfect in the moment of today and might very well change tomorrow, it’s all fluid!

Want a little inspiration armor to keep you motivated? Check out this T.

Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

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