Recent Gifts

Amazing how this choosing joy posture makes a difference. It's neither magic nor self-delusion. It's perspective. Eyes open. Willing to be surprised. It also helps with learning to be present and in the moment--particular challenges for me.

After all, how can one worry about bills, potential hazards to health, and global warming when one is counting 10, no 12, no 14, no way...15 monarch caterpillars on two swamp milkweed plants. Yes. It's true. I counted 15 of these brightly-striped beauties on two plants in my rain garden two weeks ago. And that same day I noticed a preying mantis perched below the mailbox (I moved her to the red twig dogwood to provide her better camouflage).

In fact, my little corner of human-made Eden here in the suburbs is full of late-summer activity. Most of it has occurred in the front rain garden.

First, a wild mass of cantaloupes ran rampant through the sedge grass and wild quinine. Their seeds must have been hiding out in the compost incorporated into the garden bedding. Sun and bees helped the vines flourish, and more than a dozen cantaloupes sprung out. Only a few had a chance at full growth, given their late start and their home in a "rain" garden! But they've been the wild bunch of joyous teenagers who fill your house with laughter while they raid the fridge. 

And of course, there have been monarch chrysalides (yes, that's a plural form of chrysalis) in the rain garden. I've been on time to see two brand new, hours-old butterflies resting and warming themselves, preparing for flight.

On sunny days the bees comb through the asters, packing on the pollen and filling up on nectar.

Everyday I go out and check the activity. Sometimes several times a day. Curiosity is a great excuse to step away from the computer screen. It's also a way to remind myself of the joys around me--small things to which I could so easily be blind. Causes me to wonder what other joys I'm missing and reminds me that only in choosing joy do I know it.

One of the topics yesterday at a weekly meeting I attend was on "taking care of self." It occurred to me that one way I am learning to "take care of self" is to choose joy.