Joy

Recently, while spending a few hours at the beach,

I listened to something that made a 

huge 

impression on me.

It was a TED talk by Ingrid Fetel Lee entitled

 "Where Joy Hides and How to Find It". 

She began by discussing the difference between 

happiness and joy.

Happiness is more of an "overall longer-term feeling". 

Joy is something that happens "in the moment". 

Things that bring joy are passing pleasures,

yet extremely important to our lives.

Bubbles.

Rainbows.

Fireworks.

Hot Air Balloons.

Kittens.

Feeding a chipmunk.

The last one is actually something that happened on our

vacation in Lake George this summer, and I have photos

to illustrate it.

On the 3rd day of our vacation,  my daughter, Kerry, noticed

a chipmunk scrounging in the grass for the crumbs of our

s'mores the night before.

Kerry walked slowly toward the chipmunk and held out

a piece of cracker for him.  She waited patiently and it paid off.

She named him Chester.

Chester demonstrated where the term

"chipmunk cheeks" 

comes from.

Three days later,  we noticed a chipmunk eating leftover yogurt

on the breakfast table on the deck.  It ran off to the rock wall 

when people arrived, but kept an eye on us nonetheless.

I grabbed my camera, and the girls went to work to entice

the chipmunk to eat out of their hands.  Kerry said it was Chester,

but we didn't believe her (there were hundreds of chipmunks

running around).

It didn't take long for "Chester" to come closer.

He first took a cracker from Kerry,

and carried it away to eat it.

Then he was back for a cracker with peanut butter.

The peanut butter made him linger a little longer

and even put his little hand on Annie's finger to steady himself!

This time, when he got back to his perch, 

he busied himself cleaning the peanut butter 

off his little hands.

But he wasn't done yet.

The next time he came back was to eat some yogurt 

from a spoon.

Joy.

For a brief time,  we were privileged to 

gain the trust of this small creature.

It brought us joy.

The idea that little things in life can make a big difference

is something that intrigues me a great deal.

I'll be posting more about what brings "joy" to my life.

I also want to note that Kerry was right. 

This was "Chester".

How do I know?

When I zoomed into the pictures, 

Chester had an identifying cut in his right ear.