Mother’s Day Gratitude
Lately, I've been walking around Toronto drinking in the beauty of these gorgeous Spring days. This week, I gave myself permission to enjoy a slightly longer walk and so strolled through the gardens at Spadina House (pictured above) and drank in their beauty. Time very well spent: I was nourished and replenished.
Embodiment, leading to savouring
I've noticed that, in the last few years, I'm more aware of beauty and am able to savour and deeply appreciate it. (When I was younger, I was very disembodied, preferring to dwell in my "head" and so I missed out on all this savouring.)
Gratitude for my mother's inspiration
Being back in London ON recently, I was struck by the beauty in my parents' home and it's surrounding gardens. Their house is filled with art, beautifully curated, something I appreciate much more now than I did as a teenager when I used to drag my feet during our visits to many art galleries.
My mother, Judith Rodger, has made a very successful career in the arts in London and beyond (one example: her authorship of this free and downloadable Arts Canada Institute book about London artist Greg Curnoe), and our family home reflects her passion and professional curatorial experience. It's clear that my more mature appreciation of art and beauty had its origins in my childhood. I've also come to appreciate the great power of art as a catalyst for transformation (case in point, artist Kent Monkman's work, see this free ACI book by Shirley Madill about his life and work.)
So this Mother's Day, I'm feeling grateful for the inspiration my mother has given me to grow to love and appreciate art and beauty in all its many forms, indoors and outdoors. Thank you Mum! 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
Over to You...
What qualities do you notice in yourself that you are grateful for and can attribute to your mother's (or other mother figure's) influence and inspiration? I'd love to hear.
Wishing you a Mother's Day filled with beauty, Milisa
P.S. Savouring leads to well-being which leads to "success"
Reminding us that savouring is a positive psychology "happiness intervention", meaning that finding ways to savour the joys in life has been shown to lead to increased happiness and well-being.
And studies have also shown that increased happiness and well-being lead to more success in life - and not the other way around as many of us assume. That’s right… meaningful success comes from being happy and experiencing well-being! And savouring is an easy and very pleasant tool for us to use to find happiness and well-being.
You can savour in the present moment, or about the past or the future. One simple, small but mighty, savouring practice is to take 2-3 minutes daily to enjoy the small pleasures in life, like a cup of coffee, a gorgeous sky or a good conversation. There may be marveling (feeling awe), thanksgiving (feeling gratitude), basking (feeling pride, the positive emotion) or luxuriating (feeling pleasure) involved – we could all use more of those, right?
