What a delight!
Moments that make my day.
Hello friends,
I’m an unrelenting optimist.
Not the Pollyanna, always looking at the world through rose-colored glasses type. I’m more practical than that. However, I do always hold a glass a little more than half-full while keeping a watchful eye for things to make me smile. Let’s start with this one.
The word delight is, well, delightful!
I delight in many things. Like how the word delight found its way into English. The word comes from the Latin delicere—>delectare, to charm. That charming word then traveled to Old French, to Middle English, and finally found a place to serve, delightfully.
By now, you are probably moaning with this slight overload of word history. I’ve bored my children, and many others over the years with my delight in the meandering travels of words and phrases into a language.
I believe everyone has something that lightens their day and can make them smile uncontrollably. An obsession of sorts that causes us to break out in spontaneous fits of laughter or perhaps, a more subdued nod of the head with an “aah, yes!”
My favorite people to watch as they find delight are laughing babies and toddlers. In our house, “Funniest Home Videos” takes top priority on Sunday evenings. Amid pranks and downright stupid stuff, pops in a clip or two of young children delighting in a barking dog, a silly dad, or spaghetti sliding across their plate.
It doesn’t matter. These cherubs have a secret we might all work on capturing more often, especially when we begin to reach news overload.
What delights me?
As you may have guessed, words can send me on a whirlwind adventure in the dictionary. Remember, delights can charm us in the simplest of ways.
I also look for words and phrases in the books I’m reading. For example, poet, essayist, and teacher, Ross Gay set out to write short essays to document the delights in his most ordinary of days.
His essays capture the typical comings and goings of life, but the descriptions of those events send me into a frenzy of delight. How could you not smile when you read something like, “listening to the oatmeal talking in the pot.”
Besides words, a sunrise after the rain can take my breath away.
Sitting on our swing, my special person and I gaze in silence, breathing in the same air, and watching the fish make circles on the lake.
Sunsets, laughing with friends, listening to my favorite songs, and the halting melody of Beehtoven’s Moonlight Sonata, flowers, and darting hummingbirds—all add charm and substance to the drollest days.
What delights you?
I double-dare you to find at least three — every — single — day.
I met a rabbit while gardening and began looking through others’ eyes.
I’m currently reading The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. I’ve known him as a poet but found more delight in his prose.
Where would we be without music and words to add delight? With ditties such as these, you can’t help but smile: Get Happy, Joy to the World, I Just Want to Celebrate, and Don’t Worry Be Happy.
The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.
—Julia Margaret Cameron
Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.
— W. Somerset Maugham
Find a little wonder this week, and don’t forget my delightful dare.
With gratitude,
Kathryn
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I loved this so much, I actually recommended it to someone who commented on my Substack post about neglecticles and staying in the moment.
Documenting delight is a great practice. Thanks so much for sharing this:
"The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.
—Julia Margaret Cameron"
It made me reflect on the value of staying in the moment.
Link: https://booking.osho.com/courses/osho-mystic-rose-nov-2022/