The Scent of Joy

This time of year I drift from flower to flower, scent to scent, as the blossoms of late spring and early summer spread their luscious fragrances through the air. And through my wandering and drifting I discover

The Scent of Joy

in the air all around me. I love it when I go outside and catch the scent of whatever is in bloom nearby. One of my favorite flower scents will soon be here — the scent of basswood blossoms from the trees in our backyard. The first time I noticed their sweet scent was when I was hiking in Wolsfeld Woods over 20 years ago. As I hiked every once in awhile I would catch a soft heavenly scent on the breeze. I looked all around me but did not see the blossoms on the tall basswood trees in those woods.

It wasn’t until we moved to the house we are now living in, with basswood trees in our backyard, that I realized that the heavenly scent I remembered from the Big Woods was the scent of basswood tree blossoms. Now I anticipate their blossoms every year. They are not very big or special to look at. But oh, how sweet they smell.

The basswood that shades my deck swing already has tiny buds that will open by late June or early July. And I hope to spend as much time as I can out on the swing while they are in bloom letting the scent lift and inspire me.

Each of my favorite blossoms has its own sweet short season. Perhaps it is their ephemeral nature that inspires such joy in my soul. They are often here today, gone tomorrow. Though I want to slow down time to enjoy their beauty and sweet scent a little longer, all I can do is to pay close attention in the moment and savor each moment. Isn’t that true of everything in life?

It’s like joy — sometimes I think there’s a conception of joy as meaning something like — like something easy. And to me, joy has nothing to do with ease. And joy has everything to do with the fact that we’re all going to die. That’s actually — when I’m thinking about joy, I’m thinking about that at the same time as something wonderful is happening, some connection is being made in my life, we are also in the process of dying.

That is every moment. That is every moment.

   — Ross Gay, On the Insistence of Joy

In the Pink

This week it is my three pink peony plants whose blossoms have been filling my house with scent. I picked a few blossoms and brought them in to photograph. And their scent and beauty has filled me with delight all week.

…one of the things that surprised me was how quickly the study of delight made delight more evident.

  — Ross Gay, On the Insistence of Joy

When you seek out and find things to savor in life, you are choosing joy. I suggest that you intentionally loiter in nature, allowing it to awaken your senses and fill you with delight and wonder. Perhaps you can spend time in the garden tending what you love. Bear witness to the ephemeral beauty of this world. Take it in to your heart and soul. Let it change you and make you a better person. Spread tenderness, love, and mercy like butter on the souls of those you meet, plant or animal. Love is meant to be spent and spread throughout the world. And plants are as worthy of your love as any other thing in this world.

Today I sing praises to soft pink ruffly peony flowers and their luscious scent. Soon they will be gone until next year. What are you singing praises to today?

May you walk in beauty.