Daily Dose of Green
I read this great editorial last night and it got me thinking about those moments of “absolute and perfect happiness — the ten to twelve that comprise a whole life.” What resonated with me is the truth that it is only a few moments of happiness that define our lives — the moments no one can take away from us.
Some of mine are what you’d expect: my first conversation with the man who become my husband; nursing my son in the early hours of the morning this summer in Vermont and watching the lacy top of the treeline emerge from the darkness; the day I was promoted to Vice President in my old job. Others are smaller, maybe more unexpected: closing up the video department at the Putney General Store (my first job as teenager) and then driving home with all the windows rolled down on a warm summer night; learning to pan fry steak. Certainly some of them are prosaic and not so unusual. But they are my moments. What are your yours?
I’ve also been thinking about this quote I found on Diana’s beautiful blog:
“life is not easy for any of us. but what of that? we must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. we must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie
January 19th, 2010 14:55
wonderful. thank you for sharing!
January 19th, 2010 15:52
what a beautiful quote by marie curie.
January 19th, 2010 16:06
What a lovely post, Abbey. Thanks for reminding me to stop and take a quiet moment today. Life is good.
xoxo
jenny
January 19th, 2010 16:11
what a beautiful post. i love your chosen moments.
January 19th, 2010 16:25
You took this photo? It’s beautiful. I was just about to comment that it’s one of my favorite in your series. So simple and yet there’s so much detail. I suppose it is the perfect photograph for a post on life’s sweetest moments. Mine are quite similar to yours, and they also include conversations I’ve had with my grandfather, as well as my fifth birthday party. I remember it so vividly. There were so many people there and I remember feeling very loved.
January 19th, 2010 17:43
oh abbey…this is one of my favorite posts ever. i love it. + love your chosen moments.
one of my favorites is a sunny january afternoon a few years ago…slow dancing with millie age 2 weeks.
it was perfection.
January 19th, 2010 18:08
Love these thoughts – and the quote, Abbey. Perfect ideas to reflect back on, especially at the beginning of a new year!
January 19th, 2010 18:48
Thanks for the link to that essay. I had to laugh at the description that Swedish detectives are “depressed, drink too much coffee, smoke too many cigarettes, and have a constant cold.” I know a few of those Swedish folks. I can also identify with the fear in knowing that a perfect moment is finite. I guess the art of a happy life is focusing on enjoying the moment and not the knowledge that it will pass.
One of my moments was hitchhiking in the outer Hebrides of Scotland when I was in college and feeling completely in charge of my own life.
January 19th, 2010 18:51
oh abbey, le petit pontoise is itself one of my very favorite moments. a perfect place and a perfect moment in time. i can’t believe it’s one of yours too. thanks for reminding me of such a lovely place.
January 19th, 2010 19:32
My high school biology teacher gave me that quote printed on business card-size stock, and I’ve had it on my desk ever since. It’s such a lovely quote, and running into it on your blog made me see it anew.
January 19th, 2010 20:06
This ia an amazingly thoughtful post. I will spend the rest of the evening, maybe the rest of the week thinking about this. I really appreciate what you shared and now I’m off to read that editorial. Thank you.
January 19th, 2010 20:28
Woah. Maybe one of the best posts ever. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. (also glad to know that cook illustrated has a website with recipes, hee, hee
)
Oh, and you featured my little nursery (Julia Rothman ceiling) awhile back on your baby blog. Pretty cool to see my work on one of my favorite blogs. Thanks!
January 19th, 2010 20:41
I’m thinking of a summer day (15 years ago!!) when I sat under a tree reading and you came up and introduced yourself. I am so glad you did or there would be many more wonderful moments that I would have missed out on!
January 19th, 2010 20:52
It’s so true. A friend of mine says that true happiness happens in little snippets and it’s true but those snippets are priceless.
For me, convincing my grandmother to toboggan down a snowy hill with me when she was in her 70’s. Digging up potatoes with my grandfather. Sharing an inside joke with my siblings. The moment that I knew my husband and I were meant for each other and watching my children sleep. There are so many more. I am lucky.
Thanks for this.
Karyn
January 19th, 2010 23:00
Nicely said Abbey. I love to think of these little moments in life where everything seems so happy. One moment that comes to mind is a warm summer night watching fireworks in my backyard sitting next to my husband.
January 20th, 2010 02:12
This is so lovely–I will be thinking about it. I just love that you found this on Cook’s Illustrated! I wasn’t expecting to find that when I opened the link. Fun surprise!
January 20th, 2010 16:13
Some of those moments happen to be so simple that I fear I let them slide from memory too easily. But those one or two you always remember? They are enough.
I just watched a Japanese movie called After Life, which reminds me of this…people having to recall the one perfect memory they’d want to keep forever. It was wonderful.
January 20th, 2010 20:23
Abbey, thanks so much for the info and link to the editorial. Although I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated, I hadn’t read that piece. How very happy and inspiring at the same time. Your post has got me thinking of my own moments. What a wonderful opportunity to remember and to record them.
January 22nd, 2010 11:04
what a lovely post and I enjoyed reading through the editorial.
Hope you dissertation went well and you are relived to have it behind you.
Michelle
PS let me know a good time to meet up for coffee and baby down low!
January 22nd, 2010 14:38
This post went straight to my heart and opened it, thank you for that.
Some of mine: the third day after I met Dan in Laos, laughing and hatching crazy schemes and falling in love; holding Oskar in the minutes following his amazing birth; and almost every time I give an acupuncture treatment.
Life is good.
January 22nd, 2010 19:50
Thank you for sharing your moments with us, Abbey! What a beautiful & inspiring post. Marie Curie’s words are ones to live by.
January 23rd, 2010 18:35
such beauty and inspiration in those words. thank u.
January 23rd, 2010 19:30
this is so lovely… i am so happy to have found your blog… have a wonderful weekend x pam
January 24th, 2010 14:54
Thank you! You have made me think….what a wonderful list to make in January! I think I will get started…smiles.
January 25th, 2010 11:26
What a lovely post, Abbey. And that article is chock-a-block full of glorious (and beautifully documented – such writing!) remembrances. (Marie Curie’s courage and fortitude are ongoing inspirations to me. That quote is worth committing to memory.)
We’re cheering you on to the finish line!
January 25th, 2010 16:53
charming, charming and lovely! Thank you so much for this post. Will finishing your thesis be one of yours!? I still remember strutting my stuff so happily past Boston Common to deliver my thesis presentation in grad school. That would definitely be one of my moments! The other will require more thought. Interesting and fun exercise.
January 25th, 2010 22:17
lots of moments with my son. when I first saw his adorable face breathing – crying – living after a terrifying week in the hospital hoping he would survive being born 7 weeks early (he did). playing, talking, watching him grow…its all magical.
January 29th, 2010 18:51
Hi Abbey. This is my first time commenting on your site, but I’ve been a reader for a long time. This post was really so wonderful, thanks for sharing.
January 29th, 2010 20:27
Beautiful, Abbey. I love this.
January 30th, 2010 11:22
I lived alone in California last summer doing an internship and could seriously feel myself growing up.
January 31st, 2010 15:03
Was this photo by any chance taken outside the Rodin Museum?
I too love this post. Sometimes it’s too easy to get so caught up in everything else that you forget to recognize and appreciate those moments.
February 1st, 2010 09:48
Thanks so much for the reflective post! It’s really helpful! x
February 6th, 2010 01:35
Lovely post! This reminds me of a question I heard last year that really got me thinking (though I can’t remember where I heard it): “What are the seven most amazing things your eyes have seen? Describe the places, objects, people or accomplishments in your life that are the most meaningful and life-affirming experiences of your existence.”