Simple Pleasures
Last year was the year of leisure travel. We visited the United States twice. A little over the top maybe, but we wanted to visit relatives and take a family vacation too. Living biculturally as we do, we often feel obliged to spend the majority of our vacation time visiting our US family, which is nice. But it also takes a lot of time, planning and preparation.
This year we declared the year of flow, which meant not meticulously planning every moment of leisure we had at our disposal.
And it has worked out beautifully.
We made room for life’s simple pleasures. An overnight jaunt here (me without the family ~ imagine!), a day trip there, a concert or two, a walk through the English Garden with friends and intra-European fun without jetlag, passport control or super-strict-dead-eyed-US-aiport-security-personnel whose killer glance could slay you eternally if you let it.
In other words, we allowed awareness to take over: the pleasure of awaking to a bird’s song; the beauty of observing the hops fields grow pregnant with their plump buds; a carefree trip to the public pool simply because it’s hot and we have the time.
A four-day trip to Paris with Daughter may sound extravagent by any measure, yet I am certain her greatest memory will not be the sights we saw, but the taste of that first chocolate crêpe at the base of the Eiffel Tower. She talked about it the whole time. Who needs Versailles when you can have Nutella wrapped in a warm pancake?
What juicy pleasures can you bring to your own life? Celebrate their simplicity. They are the fabric of your existence. And the best ones really are free, especially when you experience them with the people you love.
Take some time for the little miracles that await you today. They are there, ready for the taking if you have the eyes to see them and the heart to embrace them with all your might.
Melissa Curran
August 19, 2012 at 12:04 pmLife’s little pleasures – if we only would slow down and enjoy them. I love your blog – short, sweet and thought-provoking! Thank you! :o)
powerofslow
August 19, 2012 at 6:06 pmThanks so much, Melissa!
strawberryindigo
August 19, 2012 at 4:28 pmGreat post. I like what you say here….those tiny miracles of life.
powerofslow
August 19, 2012 at 6:07 pmThank you! Yes, those tiny miracles are HUGE!