I drove through town with my radio blaring and my windows down. It’s nearing 80 degrees today in Oklahoma. I was singing and car dancing, and I didn’t care one bit who saw or heard. It’s the happiest I’ve felt in a long time, and I soaked it in.
I’m taking an online class on The Science of Well-Being. I’m a personal development junkie, so when I saw Yale was offering the class free during the pandemic I thought “Why the heck not?“
One of the class’s assignments this week is to savor moments.
Savoring is when you step outside of an experience to truly appreciate it.
The purpose of savoring is to lengthen the positive emotions associated with doing something you love, just by recognizing it.
Here are just some of the things I’ve savored this week:
- taking a bubble bath,
- reading a good book in the quiet of the morning while drinking my coffee,
- drinking a nice glass of wine on the patio,
- sitting outside in the sunshine,
- laughing with my daughter while watching Tik Tok videos,
- connecting with a few friends each day to make sure they’re doing ok,
- watching our kids play with the dogs,
- waking up without an alarm clock, and, of course,
- singing and dancing to happy music.
After practicing savoring for a week, I totally get it. It is not a happy time in the world, but there are so many things to be happy about. When you focus on those things, it really does improve your sense of well-being.
What experiences have you savored lately, perhaps without even realizing what you were doing?
