NVN Sunday: 2024 CAN BE A YEAR OF DELIGHT, PROMISES A TIMES COLUMNIST
by Devon Balwit
Quilter Delight Painting by Karla Gerard
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The basic premise of a delight practice (which I learned about in the essay collection “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay) is simple: You make a point to notice things in your everyday life that delight you… Then whenever you notice something that delights you, you lift your arm, raise your index finger in the air and say, out loud and with enthusiasm, “Delight!” (Yes, even if you’re alone.) —Catherine Price, The New York Times, December 31, 2023
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I hold up a finger and say Delight!—two shelf mushrooms in a hollow tree, a squirrel hanging by its feet. I zoom in on the electric green of moss, a red leaf peeking from wood chips. Always the teacher’s pet, if seeking wonder is the task, I’ll find it, if only for the gold star next to my name on the chart. Behold the shining face of a baby at the bar, the daffy hound, a Beethoven riff that makes me laugh! Expressing simple gratitude does get old— the litany of health, family, shelter—but marvels are singular. Even the same street shifts with the light. I read the essay to the end sold, ready to dash out and see what’s revealed as the world sheathes its terrors and bares its gifts.
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Devon Balwit walks in all weather and has rediscovered her love of cartooning. Her most recent collection, Spirit Spout [Nixes Mate Books, 2023], storms through Melville’s Moby Dick.