Life's a bit of a bitch and we all know it. Especially if you have tendencies towards cynicism, depression and so on. (A rather huge percentage of humanity does, apparently.) In part, we're too used to the 'BIG THINGS' and focusing on the highest peaks and lowest valleys in our day to day lives, losing sight of the smaller variations.
Today, I've had two small pleasures that I took the time to really savour:
I pulled my socks down and scratched my ancles. It's one of those pleasures we really need a separate word for. It's part relief, part release and delightfully pleasant as far as experiences go. The actual pulling down of socks and scratching took maybe thirty second to a minute, but the whole thing was very pleasant for at least five minutes. It provided a smile on my face and when I was done I leaned back, put my feet up and gave a contended sigh. Life was good, for those five minutes. That was enough.
I also had a cup of coffee. Now, usually that's not something I ever make a point of. I devour gallons of the stuff throughout a day. The first few hours of a day had damn well better include me practically inhaling at least two liters of the stuff or I'll be grumpy as hell. This time, though... it wasn't just the completely normal "Yeah, I'm drinking coffee while *****ing on the ****." where the act of drinking coffee is just a completely irrelevant part of the experience. I can't say why, exactly, but I took a few sips and really focused on the taste and feel of the coffee in my mouth. The warmth spreading in my chest as I swallowed. The pleasure I gained from that one cup of coffee was far beyond expectations.
These two little events made my world a better place to live, for those moments in time. The world wasn't perfect, but it was -enough-... for now. They provided a little smile on my face.
Now, what small pleasures have you had today? Or yesterday? Or the last week?