Moments Of Joy - May 07

What are the moments of joy in your life? In today's 5 Minutes In Nature, Liz shares a moving reflection inspired by a friend navigating chemotherapy. Her friend spoke of being deeply touched by small, unexpected moments of joy — kindness offered freely by those around her. Liz invites you to pause and notice the moments of joy woven through your own life, however small, and feel the gentle uplift they carry.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott, Up at the cemetery here in Exeter just putting some flowers on my dad's grave. It would have been his birthday today and my sister came up and she was weeding the grave. We put some different flowers and plants on the grave itself and she bought some new ones to say happy birthday and I bought some cut flowers and put them in his grave and it feels really beautiful just being up here. He's buried right beside a tiny woodland and there's lots of birds swung around and birds and it's a very beautifully peaceful place actually here at the cemetery. I feel a sense of peace and my mum's in the car waiting for me. We took her in the wheelchair to say happy birthday to dad and she's now waiting for me as I just speak to you and I'm really clear what I want to talk about today because I met a friend for coffee this morning. It was a very early morning coffee and she came to meet me and she's going through some chemo treatment. She's got cancer and I haven't seen her since the treatment started. She's had lots of friends supporting her and I was just so delighted that this morning she was at the right stage of her treatment where she was feeling healthy enough to come and meet me for a cup of coffee and we had conversations and she told me some of the things that had really touched her and what she said is that it it's the moments of joy that she has really begun to appreciate and I love that phrase moments of joy and as I have been reflecting on that myself I had a moment of joy yesterday. I was walking in Exeter and I heard the rat-tat-tat-tat-tat of a woodpecker and I hear woodpeckers a lot. I hear their cries but I also hear them when they're beating their beaks against the wood and the tree trunks but never when I've heard a woodpecker have I been able to look up in a tree and see it but yesterday I saw the woodpecker. I saw it and I saw it hammering with its its beak into an old tree trunk and I was transfixed and thrilled. It was a moment of joy, A simple moment of joy and my friend this morning she was saying that she didn't realize the delight she had with people just sending her little text messages and a friend of hers has been painting small cards with flowers on them and she's been receiving these cards after each round of chemotherapy and she was just so thrilled and delighted that people have been thoughtful and thinking of her and she said it's these moments of joy that mean so much and today as I sit here by dad's grave he was a brilliant father and I feel deeply blessed that he was my dad and he has enabled me to have moments of joy. He brought us up to be caring and loving and to love one another as a family and to look out for each other and that in itself has me really sink into these moments of joy. So today's reflection is just that, Is savoring moments of joy. What joy are you experiencing in your life? When I walk in the early morning and I feel the sunrise or I hear the bird song I pause and I experience moments of joy. It's like I could not be more full with the life that I experience and have. Today reflect on those moments of joy for you and I wonder if those moments of joy are to do with connection with others, With that sense of love and relationship, That experience of falling back into that place of who you truly are. I'd love to hear what moments of joy you've experienced and what they look and feel like to you. So today has been a reflection on moments of joy and I continue my reflections daily so please do join me again tomorrow where I'll share another five minutes in nature.

Reviews

Just wanted to share that my moment of joy earlier today was looking at a stone in the long grass then realising it was a leveret, getting comfy in the sun outside my window! It made me feel so happy.

Happy birthday to your dad 🎂😊

You taking your mom to the cemetery is a very similar experience I will be having with my mom soon. I take her in her wheelchair to see her mother and grandmother's plot. She tells me where she will be buried and what her plaque will read. Not with sadness but knowing she will be joining them someday.

My moment of joy happened yesterday. My mountain bike was in for some basic repairs however they felt the brakes needed replacing in back and they would not have my bike back to me today. They know how much I ride and especially today with my buddy who also bought his bike at their shop.

They gave me a brand new demo bike for my ride today. I will be the first one riding it. There isn't even any dirt on the tires. That brought me joy.

Thanks Liz. ✌️❤️

Thank you for another beautiful sharing Liz. For me what came up is, since loosing our beloved dog, we have noticed birds are much happier hanging around the garden closer to us. Woodpecker, starlings, green finches, mallards, a special little Robin and other garden birds are now feeding on the lawn, really close so we can admire their beauty better than ever before. The daily moments of Joy Penny gave us have been replaced by moments of joy from common but beautiful birds. 💕🙏🏼with deep gratitude.