I posted a poem just this morning where I used the word “delight” 8 times, so I was floored to see the subject line of this newsletter in my inbox just now! This is the type of synchronicity I’m finding myself bumping into all the time these days and I have to believe it’s because I’m letting myself be open to new experiences and delights. As someone who also has a “resistance to hassles” (love that phrase) it’s not always easy! Thank you for slipping into my inbox with this today. It’s right on time and I am delighted, truly.
Wow! Did my therapist ask you to write this? My session on Thursday was all about how my boyfriend lives in the moment, experiencing all the delights, and treating the non-delightful as temporary, colourful blips. I, on the other hand, have made a religion out of the blips. He’s very attuned to the concrete world and walks around noticing everything - beauty, the weird, ridiculously funny. I walk around in my head - thinking, fantasising, planning. I’m so focused on not making the suboptimal (aka loser) moves in life, or regret spirals when I have, that I miss out on 99% of opportunities to be delighted. I need to change who I fundamentally am to become a dilettante.
I can't tell you how much I needed to read this today, as I've been wallowing in the opposite of delight, not by choice, but more by not being able to unsee what's happening all around the city I grew up in. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to explore all the curiosities and to be present to the smaller and larger delights they often yield AS WELL AS the people they can bring into your orbit.
Ah! So true! I realized why John Oliver struck such a chord with me when I finally clocked the pattern of what delights him: absurdity in any form. Leaning into grokking his delights unlocked my own, and I’m the better for it.
One of my favorite things about a friendship I have is how incredibly obnoxious we are around watching the Oscars. Like, we decline party invitations because we will ruin said party. And I love it! Were like soccer hooligans but for cinematography and score.
I hope to earn the title of dilettante one day! Thank you, O Heather!!!
Thank you Polly! I’ve been thinking about openness as a way to encourage inspiration. Excited to see this link to openness as a way to access delight and a useful reminder to practice every day.
I posted a poem just this morning where I used the word “delight” 8 times, so I was floored to see the subject line of this newsletter in my inbox just now! This is the type of synchronicity I’m finding myself bumping into all the time these days and I have to believe it’s because I’m letting myself be open to new experiences and delights. As someone who also has a “resistance to hassles” (love that phrase) it’s not always easy! Thank you for slipping into my inbox with this today. It’s right on time and I am delighted, truly.
Wow! Did my therapist ask you to write this? My session on Thursday was all about how my boyfriend lives in the moment, experiencing all the delights, and treating the non-delightful as temporary, colourful blips. I, on the other hand, have made a religion out of the blips. He’s very attuned to the concrete world and walks around noticing everything - beauty, the weird, ridiculously funny. I walk around in my head - thinking, fantasising, planning. I’m so focused on not making the suboptimal (aka loser) moves in life, or regret spirals when I have, that I miss out on 99% of opportunities to be delighted. I need to change who I fundamentally am to become a dilettante.
This article is SOOO Amazing, a journey in a nutshell.
It sums up one of life's greatest keys and one that I have been trying to find for quite some time.
Delight!
Delight is the right word. I'll never forget it again.
Thanks a bunch Heather!
I can't tell you how much I needed to read this today, as I've been wallowing in the opposite of delight, not by choice, but more by not being able to unsee what's happening all around the city I grew up in. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to explore all the curiosities and to be present to the smaller and larger delights they often yield AS WELL AS the people they can bring into your orbit.
Delightful! (I'll show myself out...). When I think of delight I think of this interview on CBC (Canada) who wrote a cookbook about cabbage. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/pei-cabbage-cookbook-1.6773637
Ah! So true! I realized why John Oliver struck such a chord with me when I finally clocked the pattern of what delights him: absurdity in any form. Leaning into grokking his delights unlocked my own, and I’m the better for it.
One of my favorite things about a friendship I have is how incredibly obnoxious we are around watching the Oscars. Like, we decline party invitations because we will ruin said party. And I love it! Were like soccer hooligans but for cinematography and score.
I hope to earn the title of dilettante one day! Thank you, O Heather!!!
Thanks, Heather. Love this sentence: “Yeah! People get so hung up on mastery, when all that really matters is delight.”
It's like I'm always battling two competing forces: one to stay in the present and want to strive/achieve.
Thank you Polly! I’ve been thinking about openness as a way to encourage inspiration. Excited to see this link to openness as a way to access delight and a useful reminder to practice every day.
Lovely! For more delightful stuff, check out Mike Sowden’s Substack “Everything is Amazing”. It’s full of stuff like this 😊
Yeah I tried to row a boat and keep getting stuck at some Dutch kids park and boy did it give me delight
Thank you!