Hummingbirds, Laundry and Joy – A Bliss Habits guest post by Charity Ellis

Oh, I so love it when EVERYTHING comes together! Last week I mentioned on The Bliss Habits Facebook page that I had an opening for a guest blogger this week and Charity Ellis immediately answered the call! What is fun and unique about her interest is that unlike my other guest bloggers to date, Charity does not have a blog of her own, although I think you will agree with me after reading her post that she should! I am so excited to give non-bloggers a place to share their voice and Charity’s is one I’m sure you will love to hear!

Her post is the PERFECT follow up to my post from yesterday! The synergy could not be more perfect! SO, please, without further ado, here is Charity:

Hummingbirds, Laundry and Joy

Sunshine spilled onto the patio, gently warming the crisp, clean air. The sky was a brilliant blue. Lunch outdoors was a welcome reprieve since my personal skies were quite dark and stormy, and my thoughts jumbled and confused. While attempting to read a magazine for an escape from the mental noise, I heard a loud buzzing sound. My first instinct was to wave off the annoying insect. Instead, I backed away a little to take a look. There, inches from my face, was the most delicate, beautiful hummingbird. Being very still, I watched and listened as the bird made its way to the petals nearby. An amazing sense of peace and calm swept in my spirit as I witnessed it hum effortlessly from flower to flower trusting sweetness would be found. As the tiny visitor flew into the distance, I felt grateful that I had not waved it away or tried to ignore it. I thought to myself, “How many times do we try to swat away or ignore seemingly unpleasant circumstances or interruptions in our lives?’ ‘What would happen if, instead, we stopped to truly look and listen?” “What would happen if we gave those circumstances our fullest attention?”

In the days that followed, hummingbird photos filled my bulletin board and at every opportunity I would sneak outside to try to catch a glimpse of another. I later learned that in some cultures, hummingbirds are believed to be divine messengers, because of the swiftness of their wings, and to have a special gift of connecting the human with the divine. I was blessed to be the recipient of a divine message that sunny afternoon. I believe that message was: Pay attention to your life. With attention, comes joy.

I felt challenged to pay attention to those areas of my life that sometimes seemed unpleasant and to see what would happen if I gave them my fullest attention. Surely not every situation could be made more joyful with attention, could it?

Later that week I stopped by the store to pick up a few groceries. Walking down the aisle, a large, beautiful, woven basket caught my eye. I stopped to admire it for a moment, then quickly walked away feeling silly for considering it, knowing that I had nowhere to put such a basket and nothing special to fill it. As I was walked away, my white plastic laundry hamper came to mind. What if I replaced my cracked-but-functional plastic hamper with this beautifully woven basket? Surely that couldn’t make laundry more joyful, could it? Pushing all practicality aside, I reached for the basket and placed it in my shopping cart, picked up a few more items and headed to check out.

As the cashier looked for the price tag on the basket, she said “This is such a beautiful basket. What are you going to do with it?” “Laundry,” I replied. “What?” she asked. “Laundry,” I said again, “I am going to brew some jasmine green tea, light a coconut vanilla candle, turn on my favorite jazz music, fill my basket with freshly washed and still warm laundry and think of laundry as evidence of life’s blessings as I fold.” The cashier just stared at me, surprised and smiling. The lady in line behind me said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get me one of those!”

Back at home, I couldn’t wait to get to the laundry. I filled my beautifully woven basket with laundry fresh from the dryer and still warm. I sipped my tea. I folded little socks and big socks, little shirts and big shirts by candlelight with Etta James crooning from the laptop in the kitchen. And, I couldn’t deny it. That was joy that I felt rising in my soul.

It wasn’t always easy (and still isn’t), but I began to try this in other areas, too. After laundry, I decided to give my fullest attention to my son to see if we could add some joy to our often rushed and stressful morning routine. My strategy was first, before anything else, to hug him and to let him decide when to let go. This strategy requires that I wake up earlier, but when I do, it always amazes me how beginning the morning with a genuine hug infuses the day with joy. As I continued to pay attention to areas of life that brought me frustration, to give them my fullest attention, to try to find joy there, I began to seek and find joy everywhere. I began to recognize and appreciate the things in life that fill me with joy: jazz, green tea, my son’s smile, his eyes and his laugh, lying on green grass and looking up at blue sky, picnics anywhere (I now carry picnic supplies in my car and often have picnics in the yard after work or on the living room floor for breakfast on Saturdays), my husband’s hands, his hugs, our code words and all the thoughtful little ways he shows me he cares, my dad’s messy handwriting, quiet time, happy quotes, visiting anyplace for the first time, journaling, prayer, working with others on something that matters, reading, watching a friend’s face light up as she shares something that excites or fascinates her, poetry, walking into a bookstore or looking at travel books and realizing how much I have yet to discover, the list goes on and on. I have found that when I am truly paying attention, I can find joy in what would normally be endured as a less than joyful experience and inherently joyful experiences are even more joyful.

Today I invite you to give yourself, to give others, to give each task, no matter how magnificent or mundane, the gift of your attention. When you do, you may receive a gift in return—the gift of joy.

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Charity Ellis currently serves as director of alumni and community relations for University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). As a proud UHCL alumna with a passion for education, she enjoys using a collaborative approach to engage alumni and community audiences through various events, outreach opportunities and activities. Prior to her employment at UHCL, Charity served four years as community resources manager for Bay Area Turning Point, a local shelter and crisis intervention center for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Charity lives in Pearland with her husband, Jeffery, and their five-year old son, Jude. In her free time she loves to seek out new experiences and enjoys exercise, travel, hiking, reading, writing, learning, spending time with family and friends and spontaneous picnics.