Dear Pogue,

Do you ever struggle to find joy in life? I know I do on occasions and the last week or so it’s been particularly hard, what with having Covid and all. Inspiration has certainly been in short measure. But the thing is, and it is only as I sit here and search for the elusive moment of inspiration that I have realised that joy is often present and most often goes unnoticed.

You see, it rests in so many things that I take for granted. The first cup of coffee of the morning, normally taken whilst looking from the patio doors, out over the trees. The view is always a moment of wonderment. The differing trees with the many colours of leaves. Varying shapes and sizes. But because I look at them most mornings there are days when they merge into the view, become lost in all that is before me.

Or that first cup of coffee. As you know, I am a little bit of a coffee snob🤔, grind my own well chosen beans, work hard to get the pressure right when extracting the liquid, froth the milk individually. No instant coffee here, oh no! Then sometimes, before ever I take the view I become lost in the flavour, like an angel weeping on my tongue, not wanting to over express the experience. The first sip will take a long moment. It will be so gooood!

I went insane,
Like a smoke ring day when the wind blows.

Neil Young

The view, the taste and all this before ever I get out of my night attire. Here is joy, a whole lot of joy if I but take my time to allow it to be, to realise it. However, it’s easy to lose or miss. It’s easy to become lost in the day-to-day, the “grab a coffee” and get on sort of day.

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.

Winnie the Pooh

Often we search for joy in the big things, the things we’ve strived for a long while, the singular memorable moments, the events spread well apart in time. Yes they will bring joy, cause a smile and maybe a skip of the heart. But they come along occasionally, once in a while and if they happen to be something that we’ve been building to, aspiring to, then after the initial rush often there will be disappointment because even the most joyous occasions dissipate and dissolve. We’re left with a long road ahead to the next event.

Maybe there’s a plan forming. Maybe we should make a conscious effort to become aware of and focus on those small, daily events. The cup of coffee, the view that offers itself to us each day, the person who always greets us with a smile. The things, dare I say, that we take for granted? The no longer noticed things. These are places we could find our joy. There’s much to be said for mindfulness, the deliberately being present in each moment. Actually being aware of all that is about us and acting to put our thoughts into it. Into the taste of the coffee beans. Focusing on that and nothing else to gain the whole experience. Stopping a moment to savour the breeze on your face on a warm day. Feeling the sensation, the pleasant cooling feel, the sensation on your skin.

It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep darkness at bay.

Small acts of kindness and love.

J.R.R.Tolkien

The joys of life are in the small things that happen to us all day, everyday. Forget the big events. They are here and gone often leaving a large gap behind them. But the small things keep on coming. Another coffee. Take a few moments to savour it, to concentrate on the flavour whilst thinking of nothing else. Drain the pleasure from the moment rather than letting it go to waste. There is so much we allow to pass us by day-by-day. So much that would enrich our days.

If nothing new comes through your life today you already have a treasure trove of joy waiting for you to find it. Oh, you’ll have to change your approach to the day and slow right down. You’ll have to linger over experiences you may have done every day for…well forever. But concentrating on them, being present in them, will open up a new world to you. You may not get as much done but what you do do you’ll do so much better.

Yours, off for that second cup of sensory experience,

Wic