The world is meant to be savored. It is filled with exquisite delights. This earth is the body of God, as we are. By savoring the delights of this earth, we connect to the divinity that flows through it and through us. Sight leads to insight. Hearing leads to being here. Touching puts us in touch. Scent brings us to our senses.
Please list fifty particular things that you savor.
--Julia Cameron, God is No Laughing Matter
1) The semi-conscious awareness of Kevin's body next to mine in the middle of the night
2) My bowl of café-au-lait, topped with cinnamon, first thing in the morning
3) The hot water falling on my neck and shoulders in the shower
4) Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto
5) The rich grape scent of a bearded iris
6) Spending face time with Gypsy
7) The exquisite silence of the forest when cross-country skiing
8) The sound of water racing over rocks
9) The tendrils of leaves hanging from the willow outside my window
10) Kevin's smile
11) Orion in the winter sky
12) Opening a new book
13) Feeling the breeze on my bare skin
14) The smell of a fresh cinnamon roll
15) The Golden Gate Bridge
16) The quiet hum my Saab makes driving with the top down
17) The perfection of a dandelion gone to seed
Taken 5/14/2009Missoula, Montana
19) Playing the Rogers 321 at Norm's house
20) Sitting quietly in the lawn swing
21) The cheerful aspect of a lawn filled with bright yellow dandelions
22) The call of the Western Meadowlark
23) Freshly baked sourdough bread
24) Bad puns
25) Sunflowers
26) Crawling into bed between freshly laundered sheets
27) Tulips in the spring
28) Good conversation with friends
29) Filling the dining table with good friends and good food
30) Watching the flames in a campfire
31) Chipmunks
32) Pineapple, fresh from the field
33) Homemade split pea soup, especially Potage St Germain
34) Watching the sun set over the Pacific
Taken 3/23/07
Smith River, California
35) Feeling the pull of the wind on my kite strings
36) Hugs
37) Tears of joy
38) Biting into a crisp, juicy apple
39) The feel of a hand-woven silk scarf
40) The silky smoothness of Minnie's fur
43) The sight of fishing boats at Port Orford, Oregon
44) The graceful way a surfer rides the ocean waves
45) Hang-gliders drifting on the air currents overhead
46) Being on stage with the Missoula Gay Men's Chorus
47) Wearing my white tie and tails
48) The sun, shining through the rain
49) Colorful sunsets
50) The way the evening sun lights up a building
Evening in Missoula
Taken 4/19/2007
Missoula, Montana
24) Bad puns
25) Sunflowers
26) Crawling into bed between freshly laundered sheets
27) Tulips in the spring
28) Good conversation with friends
29) Filling the dining table with good friends and good food
30) Watching the flames in a campfire
31) Chipmunks
32) Pineapple, fresh from the field
33) Homemade split pea soup, especially Potage St Germain
34) Watching the sun set over the Pacific
Taken 3/23/07Smith River, California
35) Feeling the pull of the wind on my kite strings
36) Hugs
37) Tears of joy
38) Biting into a crisp, juicy apple
39) The feel of a hand-woven silk scarf
40) The silky smoothness of Minnie's fur
41) The beauty of the human body
42) Sweet, ripe Flathead Bing cherries43) The sight of fishing boats at Port Orford, Oregon
44) The graceful way a surfer rides the ocean waves
45) Hang-gliders drifting on the air currents overhead
46) Being on stage with the Missoula Gay Men's Chorus
47) Wearing my white tie and tails
48) The sun, shining through the rain
49) Colorful sunsets
50) The way the evening sun lights up a building
Evening in MissoulaTaken 4/19/2007
Missoula, Montana
This exercise was both harder and easier than I would have thought. Trying to list 50 "particular" items at first seemed a daunting task. Wouldn't I end up with a lot of repetition? But the more I thought, the more I came up with. Each of the fifty items on my list make me stop, take a deep breath, and sigh with gratitude. I recommend that each of you make up your own list, a very personal "My Favorite Things."
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