Delight
Welcome to ATTUNEMENT, my monthly blog!
Each month we “tune into” a theme related to mindfulness
and explore a creative practice and tune based on this theme!
This month of December we’re TUNING INTO the frequency of:
DELIGHT.
Image by Nathan Dumlao
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.
-Jack Gilbert
Poet Ross Gay decided to write a short essay each day for a year on something that delighted him (he later turned this daily practice into The Book of Delights). He found that the more he studied delight in this way, "the more delight there [was] to study." It was like he developed a "delight radar" from engaging in this practice.
Being on the lookout for delightful moments helps us counteract our negativity bias, the threat-detecting human tendency to pay more attention to negative events/circumstances than to positive ones.
Ross Gay says that while delight is momentary (an example he uses is the momentary experience of a humming bird buzzing by your ear), joy is an ever-abiding wellspring that we can intentionally tune into. The practice of noticing things that delight us primes the pump of/connects us to the wellspring of joyful, grateful living.
Image by Fikri Rasyid
Research shows us that we can rewire our brain by intentionally cultivating the types of mindsets and emotions we want to have in the future. This is exactly what Ross Gay did in his delight experiment. Every day he mined for delights, and as a result he felt more and more delight (and accessed more joy) as his experiment progressed.
Gratitude is an emotion/mindset that can be cultivated in the same way that Ross Gay cultivated delight--by cataloging when it arises. Researchers have found that keeping a gratitude journal has many benefits for our bodies, minds, and spirits.
I recently held a workshop called "Creatively Cultivating Gratitude" where participants were invited to make collaged gratitude boards (highlighting things they're grateful for) and start a gratitude art journal. One attendee remarked:
It was a reminder to me of how powerful gratitude can be in reducing stress and anxiety and lead to a more peaceful way of being.
During the holidays it might be easier for us to notice things that delight us, bring us joy, or that we're grateful for. But perhaps the holidays are difficult due to our grief related to losing a loved one whose presence we miss especially during this family-focused time of year. Or perhaps we're grieving for the Israelis, Palestinians, and countless others around the world suffering in one way or another.
Ingrid Fetell Lee, in her book Joy is an Act of Resistance, writes, "Whether it’s the transcendent joy of sacred ritual or the simple joy of cultivating a garden, the pursuit of joy amid great struggle is a way to tend our humanity when it is most threatened."
"Joy actually increases our ability to engage with the world empathically and effectively", writer Gina Bearne asserts. This is a helpful reminder for me as sometimes I feel guilty for experiencing joy in the face of so much strife in the world. I also try to remember what meditation teacher Jack Kornfield says about the power of delighting in our blessings without fearing we're being disloyal to others' suffering when we experience joy:
In joy, we are not afraid of pleasure. We do not mistakenly believe it is disloyal to the suffering of the world to honor the measure of happiness we have been given. Joy gladdens the heart. We can be joyful for people we love, for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees, and for the very breath within our lungs. Like an innocent child, we can rejoice in life itself, in being alive.
When we can rejoice in the delights of life, we are less apt to take our one precious life for granted, and we are reminded of how precious all of life is--other people, animals, plants, and Earth itself.
This season and always, may you be joyful, may you experience delights, and may you know happiness, ease, peace, and love.
I am grateful for you!
Creative Mindfulness Practices: Practice Delight!
Below are four suggestions for mindfully tapping into the experience of delight (and joy, and gratitude!):
NPR has a "Joy Generator" website that you can interact with--it's hard to explain; just try to out HERE!
Write down something that delights you each day; this might be a good journaling practice to do once you're tucked in bed for the night. Perhaps today you delighted in how the sun warmed your back when you were raking the leaves; how when you turned on the faucet clean water came out; or how the cashier at the grocery smiled and asked you how your day was going.
Start a Gratitude Art Journal. Use markers, colored pencils, and crayons, and/or collage (cut out words and/or images from magazines) that help you express what you're grateful for.
Go on a walk and pay close attention to your surroundings. You might come up with some good material for your daily delight practice or gratitude journal!
Upcoming Events:
Dec 2-17 (Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays): Fiddler on the Roof at Gallery Players I'm playing Fruma Sarah (u/s Golde), and my 10-yr old daughter Vera is in the ensemble. Tickets are going fast, so get yours today at the above link.
Wed. 12/20, 7-8pm Candlelight Solstice Sound Bath A sound bath is a meditative full body listening experience intended for relaxation and restoration. Ring in the Winter Solstice by candlelight as you listen to the soothing tones of crystal singing bowls. Bring a pillow and yoga mat if you’d like; blankets and bolsters will be provided.
Location: The Be Sanctuary, 3360 Tremont Rd., Suite 240, Upper Arlington, OH. Only 5 spots remaining! Cost: $20.
Sun. 1/7/24, 3:30-5:30pm: Creative Self-Care with SoulCollage®: SoulCollage® is an intuitive playful, powerful process that connects you to your inner wisdom through the creation of 5x8” collaged cards of imagery which are unique reflections of you. Using this method in my own life has benefitted me in so many ways, including self-care, mindfulness, resilience and wisdom, and self-compassion. In this workshop you’ll be introduced to the theory and method of SoulCollage® and be guided in the creation and use of various types of SoulCollage® cards.
Location: The Be Sanctuary, 3360 Tremont Rd., Suite 240, Upper Arlington, OH. Cost: $40.
Sun. 1/28/24, 8am-12pm: Love Led Living (L3) Event at VERSA in Grandview, OH. This unique half-day mindfulness-based self-care event is a collaboration between myself, sound bath and somatic breathwork practitioner Sarah Waller, and love-led living coach and speaker Brian John. You will experience small group sessions with each of us in which you'll:
Learn how to live a more fulfilling and authentic life by identifying your values and calming the distractions to know what is most important to you,
Make a mindful living vision board aligned with your values and ideals, and
Reduce stress, release emotional blocks, reconnect with yourself, and experience improved sleep with a sound bath.
Location: Versa, 1201 Dublin Road, Columbus, OH, 43212. Cost: $149
This event is limited to 45 attendees. Save $20 when you register by 12/3!
This Month’s Tune:
Each month I share a tune that resonates with the newsletter theme.
For this month’s theme of DELIGHT I’ve chosen the classic "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.
It's all about the everyday things we tend to take for granted but that are--if we stop long enough to mindfully take them in--truly miraculous and delightful.
