Walking across Central Park recently, I watched as an energetic black dog was let off her leash in a meadow filled with snow.  Initially, she touched noses with another dog, and then took off, running and leaping, turning and twisting in the snow.  She thoroughly enjoyed herself.  She wasn’t chasing a squirrel or playing with another dog.  Instead, she was completely engaged in the freedom to run free and play in the snow.  It was delightful to watch her unbridled enthusiasm for her experience.  She not only leapt into the air, she ran full tilt around the edges of the meadow, jumping occasionally as she went. 

Her enthusiasm brought to mind the power of fully engaging and enjoying moments of delight, freedom, play – whatever activity may touch that place in us that brings us to life.  I remember the first time I woke up to a morning filled with newly-fallen snow – the immense and surprising quiet that enfolded everything – and my delight in bundling up and going out to explore this new world.  What I notice, as I think back on that time, is that I had no agenda other than to fully experience what was all around me, to fully engage the present moment that held this new and delightful experience.

I remember another time, when I still lived in California, being outdoors and looking up at the sky at dusk and being in the presence of one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen.  I was transfixed and couldn’t move for the longest time, as I was completely absorbed in the awesome colors splashed across the sky.  It was another of those moments of being completely connected to the delicious qualities of the present moment, and my body and mind were filled up and thrilled by what I saw.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to become even more consciously aware of those moments when you encounter something that offers you delight, freedom of expression, playfulness, awe – whatever qualities bring out in you spontaneous, energetic enthusiasm for your present experience.  Your enthusiasm might be quiet and deeply internal – a true delight and satisfaction with what you’re experiencing – or it may be noisy and exuberant, expressing itself in ways that are evident to everyone around you.  The important thing is the quality of what moves through you internally and how thoroughly you allow yourself to take it in.

There’s no right or wrong way to allow yourself to be filled up with the present moment.  The invitation is to bring awareness to what touches you and to give yourself permission not to hold back, but instead to become fully engaged with what’s there for you.  Even as the dog looked back at her human companion from time to time, she did so right before springing into another round of jumping and running in the snow.  She wasn’t done yet – even as she wanted to make sure her world was secure and that her human companion was still in sight.  Notice what makes it safe for you to continue to enjoy these kinds of spontaneous moments in your own life.

As with all the experiments, allow curiosity to be your constant companion and notice your automatic responses to moments of delight, discovery, or deepening.  Notice how fully you allow yourself to engage the experience, to what degree you allow yourself to let go of self-consciousness, and to discover what it’s like to fill up to the brim with the unexpected gifts the present moment may bring.