Contemplating Good Things
Orchestras, coffee machines, and Ode To Joy
Journal: 28 May, 2024, morning.
Most mornings I wake and contemplate good things. I like this exercise. It’s encouraging, and restorative, and gives me perspective. There are so many good and pleasurable things in this life and hearing and sounds are right up there at the top of the list for me, in fact I collect them, those that give me particular enjoyment. Here are a few:
The quiet sounds of a night house, splashing fountains, the droning of cicadas, distant church bells, soft restaurant background noises, that coffee machine sound, the orchestra tuning up, waves crashing, an evening at the baseball game (mix), Mr. Mockingbird, distant geese on a cold winter night, screen door slams, harmonicas, French horns, kettle drums, flutes, wind chimes, that thunderous roar of the jets in the opening of Top Gun, the slow swishing of an old oscillating fan, bacon sizzling and popping in a skillet, the ever slowing grinding of an old fashioned ice cream maker, a rock impeded splashing creek.
This is akin to my five thankfuls at the end of each day, a simple gratitude practice I’ve done for a long time now. Our human minds pay more attention to the bad, you know. We can’t help it, but we can realize it and purposefully do otherwise. And if we must have habits, why not good ones?
Some days this is easy, others terrifically difficult. A rule of thumb: the harder it is to do, the more I need to do it.
I’m just taking the plate away from despair and removing its chair…
Whatever is happening in the world, and it’s a lot right now, I refuse to not live in joy. I’m stubborn that way. It’s my life, after all, this life I’m live journaling as we move through these interesting times. Heads up, hearts open, here we go, and joyfully, though we have considered all the facts.
Do you hear my heart singing now? That’s Ode To Joy, in case you don’t recognize it. I don’t mind if you sing along with me in this gorgeously arranged collection of sounds, in fact I welcome that. Let’s go!
#journalingalife
