We just returned from a 2-week trip visiting the National Parks of southern Utah. This is such an easy joy it almost doesn’t seem fair. I mean, when you are walking along the rim of a canyon, you don’t have to look too hard for joy. It hits you right upside the head. It’s as if God is saying, “Look what I can do…I mean, really, look what I can do.” As my husband, John, said, “I just cannot think of any more words to describe how beautiful this is.” We used the word “wow” all day long. We would have used the word “awesome” if it hadn’t lost its meaning due to extreme overuse in today’s culture. As one writer put it: “the word ‘awesome’ means pretty good, great, cool, excellent, fine, exciting, quite interesting, not terrible, etc.” As in, Me: “I signed up for that class online.” Response: “Awesome”. This has also become the fate of the word “perfect”. As in Me: “Here is my order”, Response: “Perfect”. These things are neither awesome nor perfect, but I digress.
The views of Bryce Canyon were awesome – perhaps I should say “awe-inspiring”, and indeed, perfect, and that gave me much joy. Cooking and eating and walking outdoors gave me great joy. Listening to crickets at night while I was falling asleep gave me great joy. Campfires just plain put me over-the-top in the department of joy.
Like I said, these big camping trips are just way too easy for accumulating joy.
Can I hold on to this joy now that I am home in the city? I sure hope so. Perhaps a walk in the park, even a walk in the neighborhood. Reading a book out on our unheated porch with a blanket wrapped around my legs. Taking time to relax – one of my biggest challenges.
So, this week’s delight: National Parks, camping, being outside, relaxing. Did I miss anything? And can I carry these delights into my everyday life? That is my challenge, my challenge for finding joy in this time of COVID.