I wrote about cinnamon again (some of you will remember one of my O.G. blog posts back from 2011). This one was my kiddo’s line, though. As they say, apples don’t fall far…and yes, it’s about apples, too.
“I want to become cinnamon”
Says my child, four, as we hold the same spoon, stir raw comfort into our oatmeal. And then we add freshly-picked apples, hand-pressed blush-pink applesauce, and we eat it, until we become it Until, through her anxious morning tears I hold her, warm and delicately tart Now it is the borrowed yoga mat– a color of mulberry I want to be swallowed by, and soon a cascade: the heat in the car, the leaves underfoot, the one red vine surrounded by green, the smell of rain after a drought, and the promise of a new playlist. It can’t just be autumn, I think, clutching the coffee to my face, tumbling down, down, through the aroma of perfection into this: What is autumn if not a glimpse at satiation–a catalog of all that is good and nothing we can keep, a time to drink in enough of life’s bright foliage to survive this one more winter?
According to psychologist Deb Dana, "Glimmers are micro-moments of regulation that foster feelings of well-being.” In simple terms, they are the opposite of a trigger; they light up your joy response rather than your stress response. They might help you “notice a thought that holds a hint of hope” in the midst of a world that feels hopeless. If you want to learn more, my friend and TUA subscriber, Kelsey, recommends this podcast about the basics of polyvagal theory. For a start, try this:
Using a small notepad or the notes app in your phone, start to write down things you encounter during your day that draw you in or light you up, even to the tiniest degree.
At the end of the day, look back through the list. See if you can conjure up a sense image of each of your glimmers. What happens in your body when you think of that thing?
Happy Fall to all!
With light, life, and love,
Devon
