In Both Directions

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*The word "delight" is my addition to the above photo.*

"Delight, being another form of love, tends to bless in both directions." - S. Dawn Sievers, 1/12/2014

I wrote the above quote in a thread on my Facebook wall.  The thread was my sharing of a lovely moment experienced the other day, and to give everyone full context, I will share it here:

Best moment of the day: driving home from errands, I stopped at a local Walgreen's to pick up a couple of things. Today's weather was springtime warm, so I had on a short sleeved t-shirt and comfy yoga pants. As I walked out of Walgreen's with my purchases, an elderly gentleman was walking in. He smiled at me, swept a courtly bow and said, "If I were some years younger, I would be sparking you, my dear. Any young lady who wears a Snoopy t-shirt with such panache deserves to be wooed, pursued and swooned." Then he winked at me and sailed into the store. I can't recall my heart being that delighted in ages! 

*Thank you, kind sir, whomever you are! You did, indeed, swoon me!* 

I have experienced this kind of delightful moment many times in my life, and each one remains steadfast in my memory.  Each moment always brings a smile, as did this most recent experience.

Life is so short for each of us. We're given a short span of a lifetime to learn, to grow and experience so much.  And we're asked to cram all of this into the same existence that is barraged by stress, confusion, fatigue, sensory overload coming at us from every direction.  Work, family, governing our personal health, taking care of our home, earning a yearly wage to bank away and provide for our needs....it is no small wonder that many of us go through life on auto-pilot.  I am of the opinion that every single day contains delightful moments such as the one I shared here, but so many of us are so deeply zoned out, our senses dulled by that sensory overload, that we fail to recognize them.

I don't know why I do notice them more than some.  I have always been this way, from my earliest, youngest years.  Unusual moments capture my focus....the tiny ones that vanish in a twinkling of an eye, unless you're looking for them.  And I admit that I tend to lose outward focus on the daily ticking by of everyday life, so captured am I by these delightful moments.   I don't become completely oblivious to the waking world, mind you, but I do get distracted momentarily.  In the best way possible.

That lovely gentleman who gifted me with his own sparkle recognized the power of a simple moment.  He was so full of brightness and happiness that he found a wee moment to share his sparkle with me.  I daresay that his life isn't perfect, or spotless, or without sadness, frustrations and challenges.  Yet he made time in his day to give a complete stranger a moment of delight.  

"How beautiful," is what my deepest heart declares.

I believe this is one of the reasons we sojourn to this Earth School, to embrace an experience where we are allowed to give voice and expression to Love.  We translate the energy of love into music, into architecture, into farming and gardening, into the pursuit of excellence of the physical body through athletics and sports, into the written word in books and poetry, into the visual through movies, dance, painting, sculpting, weaving and more.  We do these things in a human effort to express what is unspoken inside us, that core of brilliant, white hot pulsing of wordless Divine Presence.  

And sometimes, we express that wordless brilliance with a simple human interaction that produces delight. 

Then we share that simple human interaction, and the delight is experienced in an exponential manner, touching hearts, tipping lips to smile, and eyes to twinkle.  The courtly manners of that beautiful man came shining right out his heart to entwine with mine, gifting me with something that is difficult to put into words. I am attempting that here, yet feel I am falling short.  What I do know is that such courtly manners from an earlier era will always bring delight to me.  I see so little of this type of politesse these days, and when it is expressed in such a whimsical fashion, it simply must be remembered and shared so that it inspires others to act on an impulse moment to brighten the day of another.   

It is worth repeating....

Delight, being another form of love, tends to bless in both directions.

What is today....

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What is today?  It's Saturday.  Misty, rainy morning has turned to pure blue skies without a cloud in sight.  That will change, most likely, because it's East Tennessee and change is the one thing that can be depended upon regarding our weather.

I'm icing and elevating a wrenched knee, activity curtailed to a large degree for the next several days to allow some healing.

I would rather be outside on my patio, puttering with my plants, breathing in the heavy, moist summer air, but getting out there requires navigating steps.  So, here I sit.  In my Saturday, with a mind wandering.

My ice pack isn't the best, and beads of condensation have soaked through the kitchen towel to dampen already chilled skin.  A fat honeybee drones by my open window, busily searching out lush blossoms.  Momentarily, he hovers at the window and I am sure that we lock eyes.  If I were outside, I would offer to pet him.  He most likely feels sorry for my temporary trapped state, but he cannot delay his flight and zooms off into the blue.

Time for the ice pack to come off the knee.  Grab my journal and my favorite pen to have on hand for jotting down some personal thoughts after I finish this post.  Antiquing on a Saturday afternoon would be so much more entertaining!  Instead, I address myself.  And this day.  And a sense of hush....of quiet....of space.

So much to do, endless lists and chores, none of which can be accomplished with an injured knee.  Turn inward, where there are equal amount of chores to tend.  Sweep that corner first.  It's been dusty and cluttered with forgotten smiles.  Lift them up and see how they fit today.  Some are crooked.  A few are completely inappropriate and have potential for belly laughs.  One is soft, gentle and reserved for a specific person.  That one stays, hovering in the heart, because it waits to be matched.  The others, I leave tumbled back into disorder, because smiles should never be contained and regimented.

Wander into the next room where words are stacked up.  They lie drunkenly across every surface, wildly rambling, stitching colors together there.  Weaving music over here.  That particular fabric is bright and will probably find a home soon.  The one on that rocking chair belongs with my family, soft and worn and comfortable because it is full of weathered lavender threads that speak of love.  Worn so soft and thin that they appear to be delicate, but the words belie that and create a strength that cannot be harmed.

Oh, look....there's a song right here, on top of a stack of words that zig zag, accordian-style.  The melody jitters and jumps erratically, spilling notes in a trill of sunshine yellow.  Daffodil yellow, and happy like the flower.

I glance at the floor and see my footprints in this place.  Casting a gaze behind me, the footprints show different shapes, different versions of me.  The day I wore those gorgeous red heels and made a mark in the world shows a set of crisp steps, confident and empowered like the color of those heels. The morning that I received shockingly sad news, flip flop footprints slew in a jagged, confused stumble...and are melded with the stance of another who offered strong arms and support.  The day I walked barefoot in the woods of home, these particular steps are of every age I have been....wee child, teenager, young woman....and now.  They meander, they swoop and dash, they dance, they mosey and stroll, those bare feet.  Layering all of the Me that has been this time around.

And now, I step through a doorway hung with a blanket and greet memories of my Granny Reagan.  Sitting in her rocking chair, arms open to receive a little girl with white-blonde hair and an endlessly curious mind.  That day, we walked to the mailbox together and discovered infinite worlds along the way.  I wore my pink patent leather shoes, the dressy ones that are supposed to be reserved for Sundays and church, but what little girl can resist sharing pink patent leather shoes with the world? I wore them every chance I got. I could linger here endlessly....

This bright Saturday with the endless blue skies is an inward journey.  Tidying here, stepping around chaos there, blithely ignoring any outward judgment that anything requires more than an acknowledging sweep of my eyes.  Looking into rooms that should not be touched for a while.  Recognizing others that could do with being emptied, but I repeat the blithely ignoring approach. Who knew that a wrenched knee would guide me here?  The strains of a song accompany me as I emerge back into the Now.  Howie Day's "Collide".

My honeybee friend is back at the window, hovering again, regarding my human self curiously.  This makes me question what message this little guy brings.  Research tells me that the honey bee symbolizes the soul that flies away from the body.  Perhaps that is where my inner journey focused, flitting away from my physical body to traverse the landscape of my Spirit.

I am back now, with bare feet dusted in insubstantial glittery cobwebs of my life.  I am sure that my current Self has left new footprints in there.