On really, truly enjoying things

On a podcast, I recently heard Ira Glass mention that sometimes, he finds himself eating meals and paying no attention to what he’s eating at all.

You know how sometimes you drive somewhere, arrive, and have basically no memory of getting there? What he’s describing is kinda like that! 

This statement of his piqued my interest, mainly because I almost never experience life this way. 

For better or for worse, I am generally very IN whatever moment I’m experiencing. I notice the good, the bad, and everything in between. 

As I thought about this more, I wondered if this is a key to feeling joyful without needing to spend a lot of money.

If you go through life only halfway observing what you experience, it stands to reason that you would not extract 100% of the joy that life has to offer. 

So, then you’d need twice as many joyful experiences in order to reach the joy level of someone who is more observant. 

A little while back, a friend said, “You know, something I love about you is that it takes so little to make you happy.”

And now that I’ve thought about this more, I’m wondering if it’s because I am really soaking in all the happiness that my experiences have to offer. 

When I walk in the woods, I notice things like:

• the delicious crispness of warm, but not humid air
• a brilliant blue sky

• a gentle breeze
• little plants, mushrooms, lichens, flowers, berries

• a gorgeous piece of ice 
• sparkly frost 

When I listen to music, I feel all the sounds in my body, sometimes like chills going up my spine, sometimes like the feeling of being enveloped in a warm blanket.

(This is a fascinating article on the psychology of chills in the body.)

I notice sunrises and sunsets, of course, but I also pay attention to beautiful streaks of light, a glow of yellow sunlight coming through my window, the way steam rises off of a pot or a cup of tea.

Or the way my front door’s glass makes a colorful rainbow on my floor.

                    

I take a lot of delight in sensations like:

• a cool shower after a summer walk
• a hot shower in the winter months
• the feeling of sliding into a bed with fresh, unwrinkled sheets
• fuzzy warm slippers on a cold day
• the pleasant weight of a purring cat on my chest

And when I eat my food, I am always paying attention to what it tastes like, even if it’s just a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

(Which IS, for the record, deliciously satisfying.)

 

One of my favorite eating experiences that just came to mind: when I make my grandma’s apricot sweet rolls, I love to eat some of them fresh out of the oven while the sugary coating on the outside is slightly crispy. SO GOOD.

 

 

I am obviously not a mental health expert, so I think you should take this whole post with a grain of salt.

But, what I’m talking about here probably falls under the category of mindfulness, which does seem to offer some mental health benefits (for example, see this Harvard article.)

And what I read about mindfulness says that we can get better at it with practice; when we purposely notice and enjoy what’s good in our present moment, it becomes easier and easier to do that over time.

A little note about noticing the bad

I said above that I notice the good, the bad, and everything in between. But interestingly, I think observing the unpleasant things somehow makes the pleasant things feel even better.

I hate being sticky and sweaty, but I love the relief of getting into a cool shower.

Being chilly makes the sensation of crawling under the covers even better.

I dislike days with dark clouds, but after a string of those, the sunshine makes me so pleased, I could cry happy tears. Like…sometimes when I get to a sunny spot on a trail I just stop, close my eyes, and soak it in.

So…I really think that noticing all the flavors of life experiences helps to boost my happiness.

And the wonderful thing is: noticing costs exactly $0. 🙂

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

(And it’s ok to disagree with me. I really am just thinking out loud in this post, and I know my experiences might not be the same as everyone else’s.)