The world is full of colour and shades of grey, not black or white. Life too often is cerebral and we take little time to smell the roses along the way. Politics, above all else, is thought and passion.
Bliss is different and is never found in a brief moment. I do not know, but I suspect, that bliss is different for everyone. Great moments are found in laughter with friends, the fun of planning and preparing a perfect meal, moments savouring a special wine, the happiness of hugging a child, the wonder and the hope of a newborn, the smell of a freshly bathed baby, the comfort and warmth of a well loved pet. But bliss is different from all these things. It is that rare and special moment when many things come together to create and revitalize a sense of wonder in the world. There's more...
For me, such moments have always come from nature. Today does not look promising from a bliss perspective; its cold, its snowing, the sky is grey and it does not look like I can expect spring anytime soon.
Please don't think I am complaining. It's Saturday, I am savouring a moment with a good book and a fresh cup of coffee, they've been playing Handel on my favourite station, and all in all, life feels pretty great, but not blissful. Those moments are rare, those are the moments we feel all that is right in the world without a cloud on the horizon, when we truly feel a sense of wonder.
I'll share my ultimate moment of bliss and I hope you will take the time to share yours. My own is pretty mundane, but still worth a line or two.
Fifteen years ago this coming May, I lived in a side split with a deck off the kitchen. I wasn't working at the time, but with all my chores done for a change, I decided to take advantage of the spring sunshine and sit out on the deck with a book and a cup of coffee. There was no wind, and it was a glorious little spot in the sun. After a time I became aware a sound unlike anything I had ever heard before. Looking around, I didn't see anything that could be the source of the noise, until I looked up. Above me the branches of the apricot tree had opened into full flower and crawling all over the flowers and branches were bees of every size and description imaginable. The air around the tree was thick with bees waiting to take their turn. I have never, either before, or since, seen such a breathtaking sight. I sat for a very long time watching and feeling such a sense or wonder and unimaginable joy.
I think these moments give us strength and the ability to look the world's ugliest moments in the eye and not be daunted by them. I think these moments are those when our souls and our minds and our compassion experience growth.
What's your bliss?