Every Moment, a Quantum of Joy

It happens over and over, every day.  Something crosses our path that gives us just that tiny lift, a quantum of Joy.  It can be anything.  Traditional things, like a quick image of beauty, a smell that evokes, the music of a laugh.  Sometime it is something unusual, the flight of a bird, the fall of a leaf, the glint of sun of newly fallen snow.  Most of the time we ignore it, or take the joy and let it go, forget about it, anxious to get back to the “real” world.

What I suggest is that we take the moment to say thanks.  It is best if we say it to the person who gave it to us.  The child whose play gave you a moment of peace, the woman you may not even know whose hair caught the sun just so, the co-worker whose project was extraordinary that day, the cook who created the wondrous smell, yes, even in that restaurant you walk past every day on the way to work.  In that moment when you see your loved one enter the room and it just catches you, tell them.  If you see someone do something good, or even nice, across the road, call it out to them.  “I saw that.  Thank you.”  And your children, over and over, every time you see the right behavior, the good stuff, it doesn’t matter how small, and it doesn’t matter how many times you have told them, tell them again.  Let them know it is noticed.

It costs you nothing and does wonders for them, and though you may not notice it, or be willing to accept it, it does wonders for you.  Even spending that tiny moment to say thanks, quietly to yourself, for the joy of a sunset, or the sound of music on a breeze, confirms you.  It is a way of saying “Thank you” to the world, of acknowledging that these things come to you free of charge, acknowledging that the most important thing for you to do is accept.  Be aware of the gifts to you, and the overwhelming power you have to give that quantum to those around you.  For your confirmation, most specially to those for whom you are important, takes that small quantum to a gift of life long significance.

The Eroticist