Everyday Abundance

Savoring the Beauty

“It is the small things that help, taken one by one and savored. Make yourself savor them.”
Rumer Godden (A House with Four Rooms)

I was remembering my mother this morning as I was making my bed. She was terribly particular about how the bed was made—tight corners, evenly spread, nicely tucked. When my sister and I shared a room as children, we had to make up our beds as soon as we rose from them. And they had better be made correctly or we had to do it all over again. It was my mother’s yardstick for measuring a person’s worth. Anyone who didn’t make up their bed was a slovenly lout. Now it’s engrained in me. I cannot get into a messy bed! And tucking oneself into fresh clean sheets is one of life’s sweetest pleasures. It is the small, everyday things that feed the spirit.

I bought a new kind of petunia to plant in the box on my porch. The cups are small, deep magenta with spring green rims. They make me think of flamingo dancers’ petticoats. I planted them with coleus of the same emerald green. Each time I look at them I smile. Everyday joys are the bricks and mortar of a satisfying life.

Taking pleasure in small things is the best way to ensure that everyday has its epiphanies. Taking time, for instance, to taste our food; to savor each bite, rather than wolfing it down while we do something else. Placing a small vase with a single perfect rose on the desk where we work; one that has a scent and not the hot-house variety. Something as simple as cleaning off the desk, which thankfully, I finally did, can imbue the day with a satisfied feeling of accomplishment. I also like to rearrange the furniture. Even though the room contains all the same things, I have a feeling of newness, of starting fresh.

These early days of May are so gorgeous almost anywhere you live. Everything is more alive and intense than at any other time of year. I hope that today, you take time to savor the abundance that surrounds you. Beauty is the very best soul food.

In the spirit,
Jane