It's become a sort of mantra around here. Just eat a mango.
We've had lots of conversations lately about the pursuit of pleasure gone wrong. The reigning metaphor seems to involve eating a particular junky treat that everyone knows doesn't really even taste that good...but sometimes it gets eaten in attempt to satisfy a perceived longing. The indulgence never hits the spot. It always leaves us wanting more...so we eat another one + another...or the taste of the unsatisfying treat leads us to reach for a different junky treat that offers no more promise of satisfaction.
I know the cycle too well. I can get stuck thinking: maybe a shopping spree will help my mood. A new-to-me car would make me feel like a more worthy person. A nicer house would make everything better. But once I get that new thing, it isn't long before I realize that that new thing doesn't offer lasting satisfaction.
Often it is the smallest things that bring the greatest joy. My thoughts lately turn to mangos. This juicy, sweet, vibrant yellow fruit brings me joy every time...when I let it...when I slow down enough to notice it...to truly see what an amazing thing it is...when I taste it + smell it + savor it. Stopping to observe a ladybug. Letting my feet feel the grass. Filling a tiny vase with wildflowers. Feeling the wind in my hair. Laying flat on my back with my eyes closed. Rubbing the back of one that I love. Breathing slow + deep. Looking up at the clouds.
When I allow myself to slow down + really take in these simple moments...these are the moments when I truly grasp the goodness of life.
Take a moment. Make a list of ten tiny ways that you can catch or have caught a glimpse of the immense goodness this world has to offer. Set out this weekend to collect moments...determine them ahead of time or collect them as they come. Collect them as photos or on a written list. I'm guessing they are the simplest things.
It's in the smallest of moments that I can see a juicy world dripping with love and goodness that every one can grasp + experience to their very core. It's there. It's there for the taking...the embracing...the holding...the experiencing. Take it. Take it. Take it. And live.
Love
Jane
We've had lots of conversations lately about the pursuit of pleasure gone wrong. The reigning metaphor seems to involve eating a particular junky treat that everyone knows doesn't really even taste that good...but sometimes it gets eaten in attempt to satisfy a perceived longing. The indulgence never hits the spot. It always leaves us wanting more...so we eat another one + another...or the taste of the unsatisfying treat leads us to reach for a different junky treat that offers no more promise of satisfaction.
I know the cycle too well. I can get stuck thinking: maybe a shopping spree will help my mood. A new-to-me car would make me feel like a more worthy person. A nicer house would make everything better. But once I get that new thing, it isn't long before I realize that that new thing doesn't offer lasting satisfaction.
Often it is the smallest things that bring the greatest joy. My thoughts lately turn to mangos. This juicy, sweet, vibrant yellow fruit brings me joy every time...when I let it...when I slow down enough to notice it...to truly see what an amazing thing it is...when I taste it + smell it + savor it. Stopping to observe a ladybug. Letting my feet feel the grass. Filling a tiny vase with wildflowers. Feeling the wind in my hair. Laying flat on my back with my eyes closed. Rubbing the back of one that I love. Breathing slow + deep. Looking up at the clouds.
When I allow myself to slow down + really take in these simple moments...these are the moments when I truly grasp the goodness of life.
Take a moment. Make a list of ten tiny ways that you can catch or have caught a glimpse of the immense goodness this world has to offer. Set out this weekend to collect moments...determine them ahead of time or collect them as they come. Collect them as photos or on a written list. I'm guessing they are the simplest things.
It's in the smallest of moments that I can see a juicy world dripping with love and goodness that every one can grasp + experience to their very core. It's there. It's there for the taking...the embracing...the holding...the experiencing. Take it. Take it. Take it. And live.
Love
Jane
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