A Week of Delights

In Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, Gay took on the challenge of writing a “delight” a day (with a few gaps here and there, such is life) and cataloging them into this book. The catalogue walks the audience through a year that focuses on the small joys that are often found in the mundanity of routine. Between Gay’s forty-second and forty-third birthdays, he wrote a series of mini essays commenting on the joy in contact with strangers, dreams, house parties, and anything else that stood out to him during his day.

Rather than looking back at past events through a specific narrative lens, this unique autobiographical work is focused on days as they pass. With the blurring of lines between the narrated and narrating “I”, there is a feeling the audience is getting a true sense of the historical “I” (the perspective who experienced the events without the filter of retrospect). Due to this choice, I would say that this functions less as an autobiography and more like a diary. A diary is defined as “a form of periodic life writing, [which] … records dailiness in accounts and observations of emotional responses” (266, Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives). Another detail noted when distinguishing between autobiography and diary style is that diary writing is noted as the “forced accretion of material, always chronological” (266).

So in this post I aim to try my hand at the diary style writing that I haven’t participated in since my middle school years. * For the past week, I have taken time to reflect on the delights that made my day more enjoyable (and luckily this was a very good week!).

*Actually, that may not be true. I’m not sure if I count journaling, but I have been doing that for the better part of 3 years for therapy and it’s been enjoyable. I would almost equate my emotional response to it (journaling) with how Gay came to appreciate small delights more once he was keeping an eye out for them.

Monday: Weight Off My Shoulders

It was a strange day; my feelings were hard to keep track of and something felt “off” all day. But I ended my night by talking to my mom. We have been distant recently because I have been dealing with some difficult things in my personal life that caused me to pull away from the comfort that she usually offers me. There’s always a strange tension between mother and child when there’s an unspoken secret. But today, I was ready to share and open that door to ask for guidance and support. It was healing and, at least, a great starting point to keep moving from.

Tuesday: Spontaneity & Friendship

I planned on writing this Tuesday evening after I made dinner at home and before I went to bed (hopefully around 10:00), but now I’m writing this Wednesday afternoon to reflect on the night before. I’m glad that I didn’t have the time to write this Tuesday night because my friend Alex invited me, last minute, to go to a concert for one of my favorite artists. They had an extra ticket out of the blue from a friend who had been feeling under the weather. No one ever wants to waste a concert ticket.

So, my roommates talked me into going so that I could have a nice time. It was a good reminder, especially for me, that life is about experiences rather than just checking assignment boxes. And, hey, it was even productive enough to give me something to write about.

Thursday: A Reminder

This style of writing has been constantly reminding me of one of my best friends, Grace. During COVID quarantine during our freshman year, which is somehow two years ago at this point, she used to hop on her Instagram story and ask for everyone’s “Win for the Day”. It gave me something to look forward to, hearing hers and creating my own to share.

Today I had a good workout and then filmed the comedy club show. I was originally not looking forward to it very much since I was working the show rather than attending for pleasure but being able to connect with the cast before and after the show gave it more intimacy than I would normally have gotten from being in the crowd. It reminded me to hold onto that joy and to remember that having a reason to laugh is always a win for the day.

Friday-Sunday: Touching Base for the Weekend

I work during the weekends (Friday and Saturday night and Sunday all day) so I tend to lose track of time. But I feel like there’s a lot to be said about losing track of time when working.

My co-workers have become some of my best friends since this summer and into the fall and I’m grateful for the time that I’ve had to know them. I’m going abroad in the spring semester so I’m stepping away from my job next Sunday so that I can take some time to see my family and go home for thanksgiving and Christmas.

This reflection is so timely because I’ve always been a sentimental person, but this week has gotten me all worked up. I’m just so grateful for these friendships and the fulfilment and support that they have been able to offer me since April.