I was at the local foreshore. I was there to run. But my belly wouldn't have a bar of it. So I let the others run.
As the group took off in one direction, I steered myself toward the other. With a coffee in hand, I strolled at a pace that felt good and nurturing to me.
I recorded a walk on my watch but didn't get far before I heard a sound I knew oh so well: Rainbow Lorikeets having a seasonal nectar party.
Native or not, the Lorikeets were at it and having a blast.
They're noisy as! Delightfully noisy. And since I've been practising allowing myself to feel good, I decided to loiter a little longer and bathe in the good feeling emotions I was experiencing as I heard their calls.
Who needs to go for a fast walk along with water without pausing for beauty anyway?
The flower they were (so loudly) drinking from was this. I have no idea what kind of tree it is. It does not appear, to my somewhat educated eye, to be native. But I could be wrong.
The longer I loitered the more I realised that I was grinning like a happy lorikeet. Something about their screeches brought me so much joy. They might have been annoying to someone else, but I lingered longer and longer and longer still. So long in fact that I decided to turn the watch activity off altogether.
Instead, I climbed under the tree, through to the other side, looking for more and more close up shots of these gorgeous noisy beauties.
Once I'd had my fill I wandered gleefully over towards the nearby beach, drawn to the rocks that my well trained feet could climb over. With my coffee still in one hand and my phone away in my pocket, I skillfully stepped from one rock to the next until I was at the end of the breakwall, surrounded by water and alone with my thoughts.
Or rather, it was my feelings that I noticed. I realised I was happy. Really happy. And it felt unfamiliar. A thought popped in, "Oh, so THIS is what joy feels like!"
It was strange, lovely, unfamiliar. And I immediately wondered how long it would last.
I reigned my mind back in and asked myself what were the things that I felt contributed to this feeling. It dutifully listed them off for me:
- Listening to the Lorikeets having a ball
- Climbing over rocks
- Having a clear view of water
- Getting hugs from several people from our run club, and
- Having some space, peace and quiet on my own
I loved realising that I'd got even clearer than ever before about the things that support me to feel truly happy, truly alive, and went in search of the off-leash dog beach nearby to add more fuel to that happy fire.
Here's to making time to do the things that bring us joy 💗
All photos taken by me on my Google Pixel 2XL.
This is a post for #HiveBloPoMo. This is Day 6 of 30. Use the hashtag to find out more. Next round begins in April 2023.