The other afternoon I had a moment — the good kind. I was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when a wave of contentment washed over me. I had an awareness that I have pretty much everything I need: the vegetables before me, the sharp knife, all the accoutrements of my American kitchen. Only a few steps behind me was a faucet that would endlessly pour forth clean water. My modest middle-class American life provides me more than most of the world’s people now or in all of human history could ask for.
Then I recalled all the doubts and questions that would sometimes plague me in my youth. Would I graduate from high school? From college? Would I get a job? Would I ever get a job I liked? Would I marry and have kids? Would I own a house? All these questions have been answered in the affirmative.
There I was, standing in my own kitchen, chopping vegetables for a soon-to-be delicious soup. I couldn’t believe my luck.
Your beautiful post reminds me of the poetry of Billy Collins. He captures moments so well.
I had one last night. I came downstairs to turn down the thermostat for the night and paused at my dining room window to see my snowy back yard just lit up under the full moon. I let out an “oh” and in that moment a flash of memories and a knowing of the place washed over me. And I felt so grateful.