Finding Delight: A Positive Perspective

Wisdom of the Wounded

The world can seem dark with its news of escalating wars, people starving, friends and family members struggling with cancer, the upcoming presidential election, our nation’s loneliness epidemic and other sad and scary news.

Against this bleak backdrop, I read an article in The New York Times written by Catherine Price, “When the World Feels Dark, Seek Out Delight” which didn’t dissolve all the bad news but helped me to also hold on to some light, or perhaps you might say, some “delight.”

Catherine suggests that we “make a point to notice things in our everyday life that delight you. This could be anything—a pretty flower, a smile you share with a stranger, the sight of a person playing a trumpet while riding a unicycle down a major Philadelphia thoroughfare (true story).”

An important part of this ritual, according to Catherine, is that “whenever you notice something that delights you, you lift your arm, raise your index finger in the air and say, out loud with enthusiasm, ‘Delight!’ (Yes, even if you’re alone.)”

Larry and I have been practicing noticing positive things and labeling them and sharing them. At first, we felt a little silly when we shot our arms in the air and declared, “Delight!” but now it is a delight to share a delight. For example:

• In late December, my “delight” was holding Brayden’s, my great grandson’s, hand as we crossed a road.
• On January 1: Larry identified a moonflower and then both our arms shot up as we declared “Delight!”

This year will still be filled with sadness and darkness, but it will also be filled with delights. I resolve to notice them. Please join me.

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