Savour

Now to post yesterday's facebook thread that prompted this sudden decision and the blog title (which I'm not utterly sure about, but am fine with for now). So this was me last night at 8.06pm:

Rachael Dugmore Barham is going downstairs to feed her sourdough starter, rinse the broccoli sprouts, marvel at the green outside the window and dance and sing a little while doing some dishes, walk through dewy grass to get the laundry in, and perhaps have a sit and swing in the hammock while watching the bat flit in the dusky sky. Ahh...

After a response from Gwen that made me smile, about how I made evening chores sound romantic and ethereal, I posted the following:

"Glad they sounded romantic - that was the aim! ;-)
Because so often I do them grudgingly (or not at all!), and recently always with an eye on everything I HAVEN'T achieved.
But tonight some gratitude rose in me - that despite the fact that my procrastination (as well as my relationship-orientation, of course!) means I'm well behind target on so many tasks, today I got to: give Amelie a homemade smoothie that she loved; sit and pray and journal in the hot morning sun; edit two more chapters of a great thesis project; spontaneously share lunch with friends; finally have Amelie's and my teeth checked and cleaned after a two year interval; (ironically) eat loads of free chocolates and chocolate-coated Covered Bridge chips (surprisingly GOOD!) at the Ganong Chocolate Museum open house; eat a delicious, nourishing outside supper with more friends; practise my Bollywood moves to Aradhna in the kitchen ;-); get a call from a friend offering a share in her organic veggies this summer; sit and drink a thimble-full of chocolate raspberry port in the gloaming with Jeremy; help (i.e. watch, plus a little digging!) Jeremy rotavate our garden plots with the Thiessens' mighty mini-machine (thanks, travellers!)... and now a warm shower and to bed!
These little things are really not so little at all, but I lose sight of that too often. Not tonight..."

I really enjoyed the responses to this from Heidi and Marjanna, and then came this from Jeremy Wiebe (who, since he posted it publicly on facebook will surely not mind it being 'immortalized' here!):

"I'm skimming an interesting book on the psychology of savoring and your post made me think of it as you do know how to savor. Four kinds of savoring processes with their associated positive feelings are: thanksgiving (gratitude), marveling (awe), basking (pride), luxuriating (physical pleasure).

I think savoring the so-called small (yet precious) things of life leads to a happy and full life.

Source: Savoring by Fred Bryant and Joseph Veroff (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007), p. 137. http://www.amazon.com/Savoring-New-Model-Positive-Experience/dp/0805851208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276779969&sr=8-1

(end quote) (note: this book sounds like a must-read)

So here ends the blog post which began its humble existence as a facebook status that drew the generous and interesting response of friends. And here begins a blog desiring to chart my attempts in everyday life to cultivate a life that 'savours' in the very best sense of the word, and doesn't miss or belittle the small and infinitely valuable gifts that are mine.