Delight and Attention
“The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.“
– Julia Cameron, “The Artist’s Way”
My sweet mom has bestowed many blessings and gifts to me throughout my life, but one recent gift stands out. Always a life long reader, she told me about a book she was reading called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron and said that I simply MUST read it. It’s about how to discover and recover your creative self, and it’s full of great wisdom and guidance for living an artistic life of abundance and creative expression. Mami (as my brothers and I call my mom) gifted me a copy that I’ve filled with highlights and notes.
I started reading it prior to the pandemic, and it’s been a resource that I return to time and again. Geared towards helping writers and other creatives become unblocked so they can do their best work, it’s truly a book that any reader can benefit from having in their collection.
One of my favorite ideas is the quote above about paying attention and delight. Our world is so busy these days, full of distractions and noise. We are compelled to pay more attention to our phones and electronics than to the people in our company or to our own interior states. This constant distraction and busyness takes us away from our enjoyment of the present moment and of seeing the delight in things right under our noses. Simple delights like the beauty of the light streaming in from a picture window, or the sweet scene of a beloved family pet sleeping happily in a sunny spot without a care in the world, or how lovely a summer breeze feels across our face.
I love the idea of slowing down and truly paying attention to our surroundings, including our home environments. Do we really want to have all this stuff around us that no longer serves us, brings us delight or represents our current lives? It does become heavy and burdensome I think to hold on to things that no longer reflect these ideals.
Part of what makes a home truly special is when we curate the objects and décor to reflect not only where we’ve come from, but who we want to be in the world currently. If we take some time and pay attention, we’ll know in our hearts which things need to go so there is space, both literal and figurative space, for what can bring us delight today and in the future.
Cheers!
~Angela
