Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Simple pleasures
It's that time of day: Cosmo keeps placing his head insistently on my lap -- ready for my walk, mom! But I'm sleepy and it's cold outside, and all I want to do is climb into bed and take a nap...but the painters are here, so that feels awkward. I might do it anyway.
For years I never napped, but recently, I'm finding naps are one of life's greatest pleasures. On Sunday I sat down on our couch to take a break from cleaning, and the next thing I knew I was lying down, and then there I was wrapped up in our big comfy red blanket... and before I knew it I had drifted off into warm, delicious sleep. I could doze off right now just thinking about it....
Baths have made a big entrance into my life recently, too. The pleasure of just soaking your entire body in hot water, feeling your muscles and skin soften, being transported to a meditative dreamy state ... I am living in Paris in the 20s, I am soaking in a big old-fashioned tub, there is jazz music playing somewhere... I am in a cabin in the woods, the only sound is the dripping from the faucet into the tub, echoing, outside the world is still, the moon shines brightly over the forest....
And cocoa. One mustn't forget cocoa in a cataloguing of simple pleasures. Curling your hands around a hot mug full of creamy chocolate deliciousness, perhaps a splash of raspberry liquor, a dollop of whipped cream...a fire in the fireplace... such luxury.
Indulging in these pleasures - naps, baths, hot chocolate... they help transport me, and yet at the same time they anchor me in my body, in the present, in the here and now. And I think maybe that balance, of being anchored and being transported, is for me the ultimate state of being. Yoga takes me there, and, in a different way, improv. And being with my husband. And discovering a new place. At the risk of being cheesy, on the eve of Thanksgiving, this is what I'm thankful for: the ability to be present, and to be transported, all at once.
For years I never napped, but recently, I'm finding naps are one of life's greatest pleasures. On Sunday I sat down on our couch to take a break from cleaning, and the next thing I knew I was lying down, and then there I was wrapped up in our big comfy red blanket... and before I knew it I had drifted off into warm, delicious sleep. I could doze off right now just thinking about it....
Baths have made a big entrance into my life recently, too. The pleasure of just soaking your entire body in hot water, feeling your muscles and skin soften, being transported to a meditative dreamy state ... I am living in Paris in the 20s, I am soaking in a big old-fashioned tub, there is jazz music playing somewhere... I am in a cabin in the woods, the only sound is the dripping from the faucet into the tub, echoing, outside the world is still, the moon shines brightly over the forest....
And cocoa. One mustn't forget cocoa in a cataloguing of simple pleasures. Curling your hands around a hot mug full of creamy chocolate deliciousness, perhaps a splash of raspberry liquor, a dollop of whipped cream...a fire in the fireplace... such luxury.
Indulging in these pleasures - naps, baths, hot chocolate... they help transport me, and yet at the same time they anchor me in my body, in the present, in the here and now. And I think maybe that balance, of being anchored and being transported, is for me the ultimate state of being. Yoga takes me there, and, in a different way, improv. And being with my husband. And discovering a new place. At the risk of being cheesy, on the eve of Thanksgiving, this is what I'm thankful for: the ability to be present, and to be transported, all at once.
