Harbingers

With the dry summer we’ve had, the trees in our area are under stress. I’m seeing early fall color everywhere I look. I haven’t had the time to think about fall arriving with Jon’s recent hospitalizations and their aftermath. But it’s now been over a week that he’s been home with no new problems. I am now looking at the few colored leaves I see in the trees, and the recent events in our lives as

Harbingers

The leaves are harbingers of fall arriving, which it does every year, even though we hope that somehow summer will last a bit longer. And Jon’s recent intestinal issues are harbingers of the aging process we are both experiencing. Until recent events, we both somewhat innocently believed that we had many more years before we really saw aging issues affect our lives. Though I expect and hope that Jon will recover fully from the recent intestinal issues, there is a lot we still don’t know about his risk going forward.

One could say that this is true for all of us every day of our lives. The one sure thing for all of us is that we will die eventually. But how our days will unfold is somewhat of a mystery.

Those of you who have read this blog over the years know that I actively choose joy each and every day that I can. After the recent events in my life I find choosing joy every single day even more important. Facing my mortality and my husband’s mortality has convinced me that the choices I make to lean into joy are more important than ever.

Choosing Joy

I am making a few photographs every day, even though my days are full. And this morning I spent time on the deck swing looking out at the trees and the pond in our back yard, enjoying the beautiful day. I take walks whenever I can and I prioritize saying, “I love you,” to my friends and family every time I talk with them. Which reminds me, I’ve added another choice to my consciousness—choose love, every time over being right.

Don’t Hesitate

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

   — Mary Oliver

Savoring a small square of dark chocolate, feeling the breeze on my skin, watching the hummingbird hover beside the feeder, soaking in the colorful leaves popping out on trees, laughing at one of Jon’s jokes, noticing how it feels to move my body, saying “I love you”—small things that bring great joy. What ways will you choose joy today?

Choose joy my friends. Choose love.

May you walk in beauty.