The Blog of Delights

Have you all read Ross Gay's The Book of Delights? One of my coaching clients sent it to me...run, don't walk to go read this book. Gay, a poet and essayist, set himself out to write about a delight each day over the course of a year. He started on his birthday.

The writing is wonderful, and the delights many - but the really wonderful thing is that he found that this project tuned up his "delight meter." Isn't that fabulous? That we could strengthen our senses and abilities to see, feel, touch, experience more delights. I love that so much.

So here are a couple of mine, pulled from my drive from Atlanta to Denver. First leg was 386 miles to Jackson, Mississippi, a town I had never been to before. I went there to see a new friend whom I met through work. A drive-by chance to forge more of a connection. Delights along the way:

• At a McDonald's in Heflin, Alabama, the 60-ish woman behind the counter steered me away from their (dumb) screen-based ordering system. "Hey, beautiful, what can I get you?" And she "beautiful-ed" me about 12 more times, loving my "style," wishing me a great day, loving on me just a little bit. Why? It's just how she walked in the world. And there were (real!) flowers in bud vases on every table...in McDonald's. In Central Alabama. Who would have guessed? Pure delight.

• The Old Capitol Inn in downtown Jackson. Whoosh - this was a risk! My friend, T, warned me off of this place...but there aren't lots of hotels in Jackson, and they were alot pricier than I expected. The reviews for the Old Capitol were great, as were the photos...so I booked it anyway. It is a refurbished YMCA; boutiquey in the extreme. Which really can go either way. I arrived after dark, and there was a tiny drive in front to park while checking in. It was so small I wasn't sure I was understanding correctly to park there. All my sensors were on high alert for whether this was a terrible idea. I climbed 8 steps to the front door...and it was locked. Weird, right? My sensors really went bezerk - and quickly morphed into full-on coping mechanisms: "It's only one night. It will be fine. If it's really terrible, I'll just leave..." I rang a doorbell. When there was no answer, I called a phone number that is posted. The front desk clerk / night manager / bar tender came to the door immediately. He was relaxed and kind. He had been helping a guest connect to WiFi. He checked me in, got me up to my room...and it was heaven. A cool/chic vibe, a sitting room that opened to the bedroom. A towel warmer! What? I never used one of those. I took 2 showers in 9 hours just to use that towel warmer again. Windows that were more like French doors, opened to the outside. It was such a treat all the way around - a delight, a surprise...and with a little Southern Gothic thrown in with the funny locked door scenario. Not least: the Old Capitol Inn's breakfast did not disappoint.

I took a run in a dark, sprinkling morning and ran around the Capitol and a downtown park.

Right across the street from the Old Capitol Inn is the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Mississippi History Museum; reviews and my friend T said they are great. I didn't get to visit, but I did get to see her. Amen!

Next leg: 486 miles to Bentonville, and my first time in Arkansas. (I have now been in 48 of 50 states!)

• First delight is Shane, a mechanic at a small garage at a crossroads on SR-65. I am driving in my brand-new-to-me car, still with dealer tags. (a MEGA UN-delight: buying a car from Carvana. Don't do it!!) The license plate wasn't screwed in tightly enough and was banging on the back of my car - thud, thud, thud. Or at least that is what I thought was causing this unnerving noise. I was taking state highways - so much more pleasant than the interstate. And, as it turns out, providing easy access to this small garage. I pull up and approach two gentlemen hanging around a truck in the gravel yard surrounding the garage. I ask if someone might help me tighten my license plate down. "You'll have to ask Shane." Which made me think: really? I have to ask someone to access a screwdriver? But I go into the garage and interrupt two men who are leaning into the engine of yet another truck. "Is one of you Shane?" "That's me. What do you need." And I plead my case again. And Shane, with lightning bolt tatts from elbow to shoulder, grabs a drill, walks out, tightens up the screws in 10 seconds. I lean in to hug him, but he tells me he is dirty, so I just press my cheek against his. And I'm off.

• Crystal Bridges Museum. Wow, a WHOPPER delight: this museum in Bentonville, envisioned and brought to life by Alice Walton, is spectacular. Really - I need more superlatives to get it right. Unexpected in the extreme. Completely gorgeous and uplifting inside and out. The buildings almost float; the grounds are interesting gardens and paths - one of which leads to complete Frank Lloyd Wright house that was taken apart in New Jersey, and reassembled in Bentonville. I saw Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter - she has her foot on a copy of Mein Kampf. I saw work from old friends Jacob Lawrence and Charles Sheeler. Georgia O'Keefe. And many new artists I hadn't seen. I was there in the early evening, as it was getting dark. There were few visitors at that time, and the outside darkness made for a warm and serene experience indoors. It is really an incredibly lovely place.

Gotta harvest these delights, y'all, cause the world is upside down right now. I send peace - and also am gonna participate in a flash mob protest dance on Saturday in Boston. I'll report out!!

xo