I have always loved the lights that surround us during this cold and dark time of year. Solstice always feels like a calling in of the light. I find myself savoring . . . candlelight, the first tints of sunrise, the glow of the Christmas tree. Early last year, a dear friend told me her word for the year (2020) was going to be SAVOR. This was pre-Covid, true, but I believe she has savored all the way through this strange year. I hope so.
E. B. White once said “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” This morning I am thinking is that perhaps the best way to go about saving the world is to learn to savor it first. Too much "saving" seems to come from a sort of I know better / I see better / I am wiser sort of personal distance. The sort of saving I am talking about is born of deep love. When I savor the world, I do not see myself as separate. I want to love it all to life. I want to fill everything with light. I create (and save) from abundance and not scarcity.
The other element that comes with savoring seems to be deep presence, immersion into the moment and rapture around WHAT IS rather than some illusory idea of what things "should be." I have seen t-shirts that bash 2020, like the Grinch parody that reads "2020: Stink, Stank, Stunk." There is this sense that we have to survive this terrible year and get to the other side, where everything will be rosy again. Ironically, it was also the story of the Grinch that showed us that Christmas still came to Whoville, even without the presents. Is that where we are this year? Can the spirit of Christmas still be with us, without the trappings?
I believe all this is possible, and more, when we savor, when we deeply see this moment and love it for what it is. Maybe I will choose savor for my word this upcoming year. For all of us, I pray that we can see the year out with a deep savoring of what is, rather than just surviving. May we savor our worlds into new life.
Yep. Now is all there is.
I struggle with the dichotomy of "knowing" that but having trouble being where I am.
I agree wholeheartedly Tricia! I have never been one to join the crowd in any way of thinking or being. If I hear one more person say, I can't wait til this year is over I'm going to speak my mind about it and say, "This is all you've got. Make the most of it. I don't care if you're happy or sad, but stop wanting to escape what is to be in what you believe should be," which is exactly what you said above not to do... imparting my "wisdom" because I know better. I think what it comes down to is that something about our culture permeates and promotes the idea that everything should be easy. Well, when…