Simple Joys
[Written Nov 5]
Kia Ora from New Zealand!
It has been nearly one week since I’ve been back and it feels so good. The palm trees, the birds singing (always), the sunshine and the friendly as people.
Before the hustle and bustle that was the last month of finishing studying, packing, moving, I decided that highlighting simple joys in my day-to-day, as they came up was something I wanted to bring to the forefront.
There were a few moments before I left, such as watching my Nona looking proud and content doing an activity she thrives in, and there was one today that brought me right back into the experience of them.
A moment of simple joy is so pure, genuine. There’s a quality of bliss, elation for a snapshot of time that exudes simplicity. It’s the same quality of a glimmer but focused in an experience you are having.
Simple joys come over you and bring a massive warmth and radiance that you notice and linger in, bringing a smile to your face before you continue on.
They pause time as you are in full presence.
Today, as I walked through my New Zealand neighbourhood after dinner, I came across a bunch of orange peels on the ground. And as I turned I found many full oranges on the grass. I looked up at an orange tree full of clementines plump and ready to be picked. I graciously presumed the owners were okay if I stopped and took one with me as so many lay on the ground unpicked, decaying slowly.
And as I started to walk away, I stopped on the sidewalk, holding the clementine out to really see. (I thank my years of teaching mindful eating for helping me get so much from this). Then I slowly brought it up to my nose to smell it. It was such an incredible, sweet, vibrant and aromatic scent. It smelled exactly what you’d expect those “Sailing Over California” oranges to actually smell like at Disney. It was perfect. That moment was perfect.
Later, once I got back to the house, I peeled it over the kitchen sink, and slowly brought one segment at a time to my mouth. The flavour was so zesty, it tasted the most like a citrus in any orange I’ve ever had.
The entire experience - so simple. I saw an orange tree, I took in the smell, I savoured the unique flavour. I was delighted by the surprise of coming across an orange tree, something unfamiliar yet intriguing and exciting.
There’s so many flickers of joy that come streaming in throughout our days, like sunlight piercing through a dimly lit room. We have to choose to see them though, to feel them, to allow ourselves to stop and savour them, like I did today with the orange.
It gets to be this joyful. Life gets to be full of simplicity.
What simple joys might you notice this week? Be on the lookout, it’s so worth your while.
x,
Jessie
