Tracking deliciousness.
Hey Friends,
Hello! I love Summer. I loooong for it by Spring. Right before it arrives I fantasize about it, imagining all the fun and sun I will soak in. I imagine luxuriating in quietude and peace, natural settings and beauty. I imagine kids playing, running for the ice cream truck, rainy days and movies. In my imagination it's perfect, sweet, nostalgic, and timeless. And yet. While it's happening, it's usually not how I imagine it. I get caught up - in the planning and prepping, the getting to and from all the activities, one after the other. When the long-awaited planned and prepped thing is finally happening I get caught up in thinking about what needs to happen next and about how and when I can take a break and recover from the thing. It all feels so planned, so jammed in and busy.
Nope, not this Summer. This Summer, I vowed to slow it all down, to slow myself down and drink in the moments. that I have longed for all year. And I must say, it has felt DELICIOUS.
This Summer, I set an intention to notice and be with deliciousness. I began to track my Summer deliciousness. I looked for - and am continuing to look for - the experiences that brought about the yummy feeling that I longed for. I did those delicious things, consciously. And there were so, so, so many.
the first sighting of fireflies.
kids selling lemonade on the corner
sunsets and sunrises
full moon glow
beach days
the cat on the back stoop
canoeing in the cedar rivers of the Pine Barrens
kayaking on the Ocean City bay
boardwalk pizza
the birdsong, first thing in the am
the crickets
the locusts, now in late Summer
garden veggies ripening
seeing a beloved friend I haven't seen in forever and sharing our lives together
seeing my son getting taller
rainy days on the porch
visiting the pig farm
not talking to anyone for five hours
reading a novel for the first time in years
not scheduling, intentionally
the camp show
I could go on and on. And, so can deliciousness. Deliciousness doesn't need to come to an end when Summer does. We can actually build more deliciousness into our lives. We can become aware of how we want to feel, and notice the feeling of it when it arises. We can notice what we can do in our lives right now that sparks that delicious feeling. Like a tracker in the wild, we can begin to notice exactly what conjures up the feeling that we want, and then do more of that. We can practice it. We can cultivate the skill of feeling deliciousness whenever and wherever we want to.
Deliciousness is a feeling. It's in the body, it's in my throat and around my heart. It feels tender and soft, almost like an ache but in an oh so pleasant way. It radiates out, like sun rays. It's fragile. It can be easily dampened or shut out completely if we're not noticing.
When we notice deliciousness rising , we can simply be with it for however long it lasts. And we can enjoy it in all it's delicious splendor.
The picture above, that's me on the bay, in a moment of Summer deliciousness.
What is deliciousness for you? How does it feel, what brings it about? Share one or some of your delicious moments here.
Mara
