Sweetness
One of my favorite words is sweetness.
I love to hear, say, and handwrite it, but mostly, I love to see it out in the world.
There is a lot of sweetness all around us if we take a moment to pause, look around, and take it in. As a form of both documentation of this season and as an inspiration for anyone needing to take their own sweetness pause…here are some things that are tripping my own sweetness meter.
Fireflies. Last night, I watched the fireflies light up the woods like something out of a dang storybook, and yes, I did think to myself, “That is magical.” I cannot remember the last time I saw them, but I remember catching them as a kid and putting them in mason jars.
Dragonflies. The dragonflies are so thick around the cottage that I started researching them. Come to find out, they like something I have a lot of down here: mosquitos. So, come one, come all the dragonflies, and eat to your heart’s content. Something else I tripped over in my research was that a swarm of dragonflies can have a more significant meaning. “Dragonflies represent change, adaptability, and transformation. A swarm signals it’s time to embrace major life changes with flexibility and grace. Be open to new ideas, growth, and metamorphosis.” according to one website (link below) that offered a variety of symbolism and meanings associated with dragonflies. So, go figure.
Dragonflies represent change, adaptability, and transformation. A swarm signals it’s time to embrace major life changes with flexibility and grace. Be open to new ideas, growth, and metamorphosis.
Dancing in the yard with Ezra. I discovered the first day I met Ezra (he was barely one month old) that he liked music and to be danced around a room. As he crests into his twelfth month, I have discovered he likes to dance in the yard with me holding him. Last night, his dad had Toby Keith playing over the speakers, and whether it was a slow or fast song made no difference. Ezra liked it. His mother told me he looked very relaxed and content. So was I. I thought Aunt was a fun role, but being a Great Aunt is pretty sweet, too.
Early evening cocktails while sitting at the edge of the woods. While sometimes it is a glass of tea or a bottle of water, it is also often a glass of scotch or Prosecco. The beverage pales to the view. I absolutely love my side yard, and I have since construction. I designed the cottage a little cockeyed on the land because I selfishly wanted the two places that I anticipated wanting to look at the most on the two sides, with the side patio/kitchen window and the other the screened porch. The side patio and yard give you the perfect view of the woods. It is gorgeous.
Walking around the yard with my coffee at sunrise. This is a relatively new thing I have started doing, and I am clearly getting a glimpse into my old lady years. LOL
Time to care for this space - the cottage and the land. I am not inexperienced here. I have designed, built, and renovated homes. I have lived in everything from apartments to houses to townhomes to lofts to duplexes. I have lived in the absolute middle of nowhere and in the downtown area of an urban city. Each space has its own needs, quirks, and dare I say, personality. I have never lived in the cottage full-time and being here every day versus some weekends is altogether different. It doesn’t feel like a burden. It does feel like a lot of responsibility, but there is a sweetness to it, too.
Music playing everywhere. I love music. My Spotify account is a critical component of my happiness and mental health. I remember, during the Covid lockdowns, deciding to splurge and pay for a subscription. Game Changer. I have more playlists than I feel comfortable admitting to. In that vein, I invested in having a Sonos Speaker System built into the cottage and writing shed. I control it from an app on my phone. It is the best money I have ever spent.
Staring up into the tall trees and feeling small. I loved visiting Redwood National Park about thirteen years ago. I love trees. The taller, the better. One thing I have done on two different houses I have constructed is that I was very thoughtful about cutting down trees. I have pissed off more than a few builders by making their jobs harder in just getting to the construction site. I am not sorry. I have a lot of trees that are every bit of a hundred years old. It is great to sit back in one of the Adirondack chairs or lay on a quilt in the yard and just look up.
I love seeing the deer on the land. A large group of deer crosses the land nearly daily around sunrise. Sis informed me this week that they have been eating our blackberries. Well, good for them. It is just one more thing to remind me that I am not the only one out here enjoying the land.
Taking the time to write this out reminds me of something that happened to me back in October 2014. I wrote about it in an essay at the time; here is a snippet:
“Yesterday I had an encounter with a homeless man, and when I say homeless man, I mean Jesus. He walked up to my rolled-down window stating he did not mean to hurt me, that he was hungry. I was never scared or nervous, and I was grateful that I had cash (which I never do) in my coin purse from my last trip. I handed him a twenty. He seemed genuinely stunned, reached in, grabbed both of my dimpled cheeks in his hands, and said, "I love you SO much." his eyes twinkled, and then he walked away. I was sitting in the drive-thru lane at Popeye's mouth wide open.”
Let me tell you something. Humans slay me with the amount of pain we inflict on each other. In a week that has my little world spinning with threats and broken people lashing out, I remember that to put myself in a posture to miss that pain; I would miss God in the encounter above...or in seeing a friend rock another’s world....or the call across an ocean where God showed up and doled out promises like parade candy....or a kid’s soccer game and piggyback rides to their car....or the employee who truly wants to grow and wants the hard-earned wisdom you are offering...or the faces and laughter of the ones this weekend at the children’s home.
Living life full-hearted means your heart will be hurt, and I don’t care how “healthy” I get; living this way is never going to be a cakewalk. We need each other’s stories, lessons, and swords. It takes all of it.
Let me say with complete humility, God, I see what you did there. 😉”
Pure sweetness. No fear.
I do not know about you, but I need more sweetness in my life, not less. I find it is not that there is less of it these days, only that we are not taking the time to acknowledge or see it…and then to savor it. I am in a season where I have a renewed focus on savoring every single bit of sweetness I can find, and yes, sometimes that is in the simple act of fixing your iRobot (that you have not had access to since 2021) and savoring your clean floors as a result of technology you bought during Covid and named Rosey (The Jetsons).
I hope that you will let people, nature, technology, music, and whatever delights your heart surprise you with its sweetness.
And when it does, I hope you smile and think, “God, I see what you did there.” 😉
