My name's Alison and right now we're going to remember together the beauty that's already here and keep showing up in the special corners of our lives.
And maybe you can take this on a walk or use it as a background for relaxation or to fall asleep or simply to sink into a nourishing meditation space that feels life-enhancing for you.
This is simply an invitation to tune into the simple things that support us,
The things that spark joy,
Comfort or appreciation inside of us in our bodies,
The things that make life feel good.
And you may not share in all of these in this list that I've curated and you will certainly have your own.
But can you go ahead and sink into this list anyway?
It may just be a gentle and welcome reminder that life isn't just happening,
It's offering itself to us within a whole range of different kinds of gifts and that makes us really rich,
Really wealthy.
Sometimes we miss those things,
We just fail to notice them or we get very distracted or caught up in the very real worries and pressures of life so it's good to have these reminders hey?
I hope they mean something to you and thank you for joining me and let's go ahead and let the list unfold.
So take a breath and another just to catch up with yourself and feel your body settle.
The scent of earth after rain,
That deep grounding ancient perfume and that quiet feeling that the whole world has just been washed clean and so have you.
That the Sun shines again even if it's rained for days or weeks and that first moment you feel the Sun on your skin again reminding you that warmth does come back and so does light and watching that same sunlight dapple its gold threads upon the water reminding you that one of the beautiful special things about sunlight is how playful it is.
And maybe that's something we can take home into ourselves.
How playful lightness can be.
Your body sliding into fresh clean sheets that feel cooler than the air and how you feel every cell of you saying thank you for that luxuriously blissful feeling.
So simple and so special every single time.
That soft ache in your chest when something beautiful catches you off guard in the best possible way.
That absolute gift of life showing you its magic even when you looking for it.
Arriving with no warning no invitation simply to open your soft heart again.
Standing under a tree and hearing the leaves whisper above you as if nature is letting you in on one of its many secrets.
When you catch the moon through a gap in the curtains and it feels like it's looking right back at you.
That moment of intimacy between you and the moon just the two of you in a magical communion together.
Sometimes that can make your hair stand on end.
The way a breath of breeze lifts the hair at the back of your neck.
That delicate unexpected touch that reminds you your body is alive to the world.
Holding a mug or a cup of a delicious warm drink you've made and cherishing that moment of anticipation.
You can feel it on your tongue before it even reaches your lips.
You know what it means to you and how first it warms your hands then your body and then your heart.
When you and someone else laugh at the same time about the same thing and simply cannot stop laughing.
Synchronization.
When a song you haven't heard in years suddenly finds you again as if saying remember and how then you revisit time and in doing so something shifts for you inside.
Brings you back more deeply to yourself.
Rouses you from a kind of sleep you didn't know you were in and you feel multi-dimensional again.
The kind of laughter that frees everything up inside you.
Loosens and revitalizes you at the same time.
And that glow,
That afterglow,
The warmth in your chest,
The ease in your face,
The way your breath just finds you again,
Natural,
Belonging.
The cherishing of the surprise of joy and how it reminds you it never goes away.
It always has access to you.
A warm bath and that first moment of sinking into it and feeling your whole body soften all at once as though it's been waiting all day for that one moment and that moment has been waiting for your body.
When someone says your name with warmth in their voice and you feel in that moment that you matter and you do matter.
The hush of the world at dawn when everything feels untouched and full of possibility and how that same feeling comes after a fresh snowfall when no footprints have disturbed it's perfect smooth surface.
That feeling in your breath as you sense how the dawn and the fresh surface of snow are each inviting something not yet visible.
When you come to the end of a big day aching with weariness,
Nothing left to give and you get to kick off your shoes and lay back on your old sofa sinking into the cushions and feel the day falling away because your home has been waiting for you waiting to greet you this way.
The delicious peace that settles after you've been crying when the storm inside it has passed and a gentle new space begins to settle in its place.
How your body relaxes completely when you find yourself being understood without having to explain.
When you catch your reflection unexpectedly and for a brief moment you see yourself with softness or curiosity or knowing instead of critique.
Remember those meetings with yourself because those are the ones that truly count.
When your favorite part of the day arrives,
Light-shifting,
Air changing and every time it feels like a small ceremony given especially for you.
A soft blanket pulled over tired legs and how that first moment of being covered feels like being understood.
Someone checking in on you just when you are trying to be brave.
Remembering tenderness and care is there.
The parts of your day that bring the comfort of the familiar wrapping around you like an invisible hug and how these are there for you even on the strange days,
The struggling days,
The lost days.
Those parts of your day that bring the comfort of the familiar.
They can bring you back home to yourself even when the days and the weather are wild.
The moment you step outside after being indoors all day and the air greets you differently,
Cool or warm,
Scented,
Full of sounds,
Touching your skin,
Alive and your whole body responds.
When someone remembers a tiny detail about you,
Something you forgot you'd shared and it lands like a small gift.
How your whole body shifts when you realize you're safe.
That deep quiet settling that moves down your spine like balm.
Sitting in a cafe alone surrounded by the quiet clatter of other people's lives and feeling strangely peaceful like you belong just by being there.
Going for a date with yourself and letting all the parts of you join in and enjoy themselves.
Feeling good about yourself for treating yourself that way.
Feeling all the parts of you saying thank you.
Those first few seconds of waking when everything is soft and you haven't remembered your burdens yet and you're just a breathing body in a warm bed in a dreamy place.
Finding an old note or message from someone you once cared about.
Maybe you once loved to them and instead of hurting it warms you because you can feel how much you've grown.
Hearing rain on the roof at night knowing you don't have to go anywhere.
You can be all cozy,
You can just listen and feel wrapped up and safe.
The sweetness of being missed,
The quiet joy of being chosen and the soft miracle of being cared about.
The beautiful things that find you when you're not looking for them.
The sunlight stroking your face,
A piece of good news,
An unexpected meeting with a friend,
A spontaneous moment of wonder or gratitude,
A memory that arises at the right time,
Words you overhear that have a message for you,
A bird resting on your roof singing to you,
Letting you know that all is well and good.
And as we close the pages of our list for now,
How do you feel in your body?
What's settling?
What's filling parts that needed to be filled?
Isn't it sweet to notice how remembering beautiful things,
Even just one,
Is enough to change the weather inside us?
And in the same way how one simple experience from your own list of beautiful things can touch you so profoundly,
Shift the way you move through your day,
Bring you back to what truly matters.
So keep collecting the moments and being in the moments and really leaning into them.
There's plenty of time for all the other stuff.
Don't forget the beauty.
It's waiting to be noticed.
It exists for you.
And how special that the beauty that you know and the things that you love and that nurture you can become a secret kind of companion,
Like a little blessing that you can carry in your pocket or close to your heart.
And when life feels heavy or complicated,
As it will for all of us,
Bless us,
You can return to this list or better yet to your own list because beauty keeps offering itself.
It keeps returning.
It wants to be found.
So just for a minute let everything you've heard settle in and around you like a soft blanket.
No need to go anywhere just yet.
No need to do anything.
And just rest in the feelings that have gathered inside you,
The sensations in your body,
Letting all the beautiful things dance inside you and travel with you.
Whether you're moving into waking or drifting,
Pausing or deepening or simply being here in your own sweet way.
Thank you for joining me to enjoy these beautiful things.
You can come back to them anytime.
I wish your life countless blessings of the beauty.
