Less Wrapped, More Rapt (a.k.a. Joyfully Inquisitive)
Today I am grateful for my working sense of hearing and the many songs I love. I am also grateful for time shared with my friend Liz and her 17-month old granddaughter Victoria-who I would describe as joyfully inquisitive.
Let us all strive to be a little more joyfully inquisitive. I appreciate our grandson Leo showing me how to do this as well.
"Less wrapped, more rapt" is an original line I am pretty proud of. It first came out of this writing self in 2010 for the essay referenced in yesterday's post. I thought it was a pretty clever use of words. But more importantly, I need to apply it in my daily life. It can be a more sane approach to the holidays too.
It seems that most people I know get caught up in the flurry of holiday activities at least to some degree. Some enjoy it and revel in it. Others get exhausted and depressed, but put on a happy face because they feel like they need to. Some enjoy finding gifts for others and giving them. Others feel that finding and giving gifts are a huge source of stress.
It is nice to give gifts, but we forget that gifts don't have to come in wrapped packages. I watched little Victoria interact with her surroundings yesterday. She expressed delight and curiosity at the simplest of things.
Expressing delight and curiosity at the simplest of things. A smile. A light. A change in scenery. What if I did that more? What if we all did?
And it leads back to rapt attention. Pausing mindfully. Giving full attention to the moment. I am not always very good at this, but gratitude practice sure helps me do it more than I otherwise would.
In ways, technology is an attention-sucker and fragments our focus in many varied directions. More on that soon. Just for today, let's go with rapt and inquisitive. Delight in and be totally fascinated by this thing called life.
Let us all strive to be a little more joyfully inquisitive. I appreciate our grandson Leo showing me how to do this as well.
"Less wrapped, more rapt" is an original line I am pretty proud of. It first came out of this writing self in 2010 for the essay referenced in yesterday's post. I thought it was a pretty clever use of words. But more importantly, I need to apply it in my daily life. It can be a more sane approach to the holidays too.
It seems that most people I know get caught up in the flurry of holiday activities at least to some degree. Some enjoy it and revel in it. Others get exhausted and depressed, but put on a happy face because they feel like they need to. Some enjoy finding gifts for others and giving them. Others feel that finding and giving gifts are a huge source of stress.
It is nice to give gifts, but we forget that gifts don't have to come in wrapped packages. I watched little Victoria interact with her surroundings yesterday. She expressed delight and curiosity at the simplest of things.
Expressing delight and curiosity at the simplest of things. A smile. A light. A change in scenery. What if I did that more? What if we all did?
And it leads back to rapt attention. Pausing mindfully. Giving full attention to the moment. I am not always very good at this, but gratitude practice sure helps me do it more than I otherwise would.
In ways, technology is an attention-sucker and fragments our focus in many varied directions. More on that soon. Just for today, let's go with rapt and inquisitive. Delight in and be totally fascinated by this thing called life.
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