“Simplicity is the essence of happiness.” ~ Cedric Bledsoe

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This morning I was running late for my regular job and thus, there was no time to invest in the preparation of a proper and nutritious breakfast.

Instead, I opted to grab some of my favorite Spanish Queen olives and extra sharp cheddar cheese from the icebox, followed by my favorite sea-salted crackers from the cupboard.

I quickly gathered and placed these simple items into one of my canvas tote bags with some of Mozart’s music printed on the front, made a mad dash out the front door, and headed to work.

Upon arriving to work (barely on time), I tended to the most pressing things that need to be addressed in the moment. After things were put in order, I sat quietly at my desk, listening to the silence mostly, and the soft cadence of gentle music playing from another room.

It was there in that (mostly) quiet and still moment that I found pleasure, joy even, in one of the simplest of things—my breakfast. Can divinity be found in the bite of one’s breakfast, I mused? Could something so simplistic be a “reset” button of sorts, leading to the unfolding of a better turn of events for the day? A day that had begun in quick, haphazard motion, as I was running behind. Perhaps and perhaps not, I pondered, as I enjoyed the sharpness of the cheddar paired with the savoriness of the olives and the saltiness of the crackers.

In that moment, I was trying (with all of my might, I will add!) to see the good in the world; a world now rocked for months by pandemic, hatred, social and cultural breakdown and unjust, violence, racism, and the disruption of our inner peace. To truly just be present with the moment and myself seemed a bit of a task, but what a joy when found! To (somewhat unintentionally) reach a place of contentment, if only for a moment; to become a fluid part of the literal moment, as it unfolded around me, allowing myself to enjoy and savor the simple pleasure that this light breakfast-of-sorts was bringing to my senses.

It just so happened that running too late for a proper breakfast and having a hankering for a not-so-common breakfast food, olives, happened to bring forth a bit of joy that I wasn’t expecting and was surprised to find in the moment. It turned out that the quiet moment while truly enjoying my breakfast was indeed the reset button I needed to help me make it through yet another hectic day at work.

As I looked out the office window beyond the glare of my computer screens, life was whirling in motion around me. I felt comforted by the natural rhythm of nature; the sway of the trees, the hum of the traffic on the highway, the blue of the sky, the green of the trees, and the blades of grass. It was all there for me to take in, inviting me into a place of solace and peace, like a mother, comforting me.

It reminded me of the place housed in my own heart, a place that originates in the mind and trickles down into the chambers of the heart like a mountain stream, inviting me to a place of sacred remembering within myself. A place where silence is bliss and the intake of one’s breath becomes fully intentional upon deep cleansing inhale, and then, the letting go of that which no longer serves upon exhale.

A reset was happening in some form, right there in my rolling office chair. Was it a quiet moment of rebirth? Witnessed only by nature and self? I pondered and realized for certain, it truly is the little things, as I sat cocooned and held by myself and nature, in full surrender to the present moment.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

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Relephant:

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