The Inspiration

One of my favorite NPR podcasts, This American Life, recently replayed an episode originally aired on January 31, 2020 called "The Show of Delights". The episode's synopsis: "In these dark, combative times, we attempt the most radical counterprogramming we could imagine: a show made up entirely of stories about delight." Interestingly, this show was even more radical being played again now during a pandemic and a time of chaotic political upheaval. 

Episodes on This American Life are divided up into sections like a play (Prologue, Acts, etc). Act 1 of this episode was called "The Job Of Delight" by Bim Adewunmi. Bim spoke to poet Ross Gay, author of "The Book Of Delights" which inspired the show, about the discipline and rigor of seeking and holding onto delight. I haven't actually read the book, but the show gave me a pretty good idea of what it's about. Ross challenged himself to write a year’s worth of essays, each day focusing on something delightful, including everything from tomato plants, high fives, and delightful experiences at airport security. 

Ever since I quit my job in December, I have been searching for some kind of outlet to help me process my thoughts and feelings and to discern what it is that I feel called to do next in my life. Encouraged especially by one friend to make sure I took up a discipline of writing, I've been mulling over what to write and how to make the exercise of writing a part of my daily routine. I registered for a Creative Writing course at North Shore Community College but it doesn't start until February 4. And the class only lasts a few weeks, so I really wanted to get some other kind of writing started. 

Once I heard about The Book of Delights, I immediately wanted to emulate it. That was several days ago, so "immediately" desiring it didn't make me actually sit down and start it. But for whatever reason, today I got the energy and inspiration to start. Surprisingly, the blog URL "aYearofDelight" was not taken, so here we are. As it is already 8 days into 2021, I'll be writing some catch-up posts, but moving forward, the idea is to sit down at my computer every morning with my breakfast and write about something that brought me delight the day before. I will eventually be starting to volunteer with Meals on Wheels once a week during the time I usually sit down for breakfast, so whatever days those end up being I will have to try to discipline myself to write later in the day. Worst case scenario, I do another catch-up post the following day. I haven't made a New Years Resolution in many years, and I hesitate to make this a "resolution" for fear of breaking it, but I am officially challenging myself to make this a daily habit. 

For those of you curious, as I was, here are some definitions of delight:

"A cause or source of great pleasure or happiness" - from my favorite dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary

"A high degree of gratification or pleasure, joy, e.g. children squealing in delight. Also : extreme satisfaction, keen enjoyment." from my favorite free online dictionary source, Merriam-Webster.

With delight,

♥Jamie