Mudita

I'm crawling around the vegetable garden on my hands and knees so i can get a better look at a little brown bird that is sitting on top of a fence post and singing his heart out to the four directions. Miraculously he sits and sings till i'm crouching among the bush beans and close enough to gaze at him.

He stops singing and preens himself unself-consciously, spreading his wing feathers like i clean between my toes. Then he just sits and watches. I hear the hum of bees and see one rolling around in a nearby poppy. Gnat-size blackflies hover near my face. I hear the zoom of a hummingbird nearby.

I say the new Appreciative Joy phrases i learned at a recent meditation retreat.
"How wonderful you are in your being.
I delight that you are here."

This nondescript little brown bird IS wonderful. My heart swells, drinking in the summer late afternoon. Then the plain brown bird puffs out his breast and sings to the west. He hops around and sings to the east.

Each in our own way, we are both suffusing our world with joy.