Delight is one of those words that I don’t use very often. It is also one of those words that puts a smile on my face whenever I hear it. It brings to mind happiness, peace, joy, and calm.
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
Maya Angelou
As a verb delight means to please someone greatly and as a noun it means great pleasure. I think of delight as a lighter form of joy. Even the forms of the word bring happiness.
Delighted
Delightful
Delights
Delight can come from things, people, or moments in our lives. If we do not pay attention, there may be many episodes of delight in our daily lives that we miss. We need to be present in each moment and recognize it as a source of delight in order to gain the full benefit from it. The best way to fully recognize and feel delight is if we share these moments with others. By doing this, it helps us to fully appreciate it.
Ross Gay, author of The Book of Delights, describes delights as the butterflies flying around and landing on the thing that is joy. In his opinion, delight is an invitation. By loving something, we offer other people the invitation to love it too. We share in the delight. So many of us go through our lives not really noticing the wonderful things around us. It takes another person to point out the magnificent and delightful things for us to even notice them.
Some common things that may delight us:
- Rainbows
- Hugs
- Fall leaves
- Shooting stars
- Listening to music
- Flower buds
- Children’s reactions to things
- The beach
- The forest
- The mountains
- The smell of bread baking
- The feel of soft fur
The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.
Isaac Asimov
Especially during this time of pandemic and quarantine, it is important for us to take notice of the special things in our day, the things that delight us. Use every possible opportunity to feel delighted and be sure to share it with someone else.
Organizing, Growing, and Finding Peace Together 