Sparkling Moments

I took this photo at South Pointe Pier on South Beach in Miami, Florida. I am with my Bestie–Iris. We walk for 90 minutes in 80° weather. I feel the heat of the sun on my bare shoulders, sweat beads pour down my face because I’m used to below 30° temperatures in New York! 

Sounds of what I think is a mourning dove compete with the cackling calls of seagulls searching for food. I hear Iris’s words resonate through me, and I soak them in along with the sensory wonders around me.

A medley of people run, walk, rollerblade, and bike past me – all shapes, sizes, ethnicities. Local and tourist. I smell the briny metallic scent of the ocean. Cooked food wafts into my nose from the restaurants along the boardwalk. I feel the scratchy sand and rough exterior of a shell I pick up. I taste the refreshing lukewarm water from the bottle I thankfully carry in my pocket. I soak in the tones and hues of the green and blue ocean dotted with fish, rocks, and sun.

I appreciate where I am, who I’m with, and the time we have spent together.

Now, I’m home on a rainy cold day. I want to return to the ocean and my friend. These are the moments and memories that I am moved to carry with me, go back to, and do over and over again. When I recall, reflect, and expand what sparkles in a memory to me, I call in more of that glowing energy. I thicken the memory by adding details about what I did, why it matters, and enrich it with as many sensory details as I can muster. Until that day, I carry these joys and sparkles within me and in the pages of my journal.

Sparkling Moments–when you feel the twinkling, bubbly, magical energy of positive, vibrant, and joyful emotions. 

Prompts to thicken your Sparkling Moments:  

Record as if you’re describing a photograph or a video and its essence.

• What do you see?

• Who are you with?

• Where are you?

• What time is it, date, year, day of the week?

• What do you smell around you? 

  • Perhaps it’s citrusy perfume, cheesy pizza, flowers close by, the dank scent of a cave. 

• What are you touching?

  • Holding someone’s hand, pages of a well-loved book, your hair as the breeze moves it across your face. 

• What do you hear?

  • Tidbits of conversation, baby’s laughter, the clink of a glass in a toast, soft piano played in a hotel lounge. 

• What do you taste?

  • The bitter note of Cuban coffee, briny tang of the ocean, dark chocolate ice cream with bits of cocoa, sweetness of wine.

• What is the essence of this moment?

  • The feeling that you want to carry if you could encapsulate it in a pod like a favorite coffee. What would the notes be–the scent, taste, texture, color, temperature, characters of this moment?

  • The senses play off of each other. Not quite the same if separated, yet full-bodied when brought together. 

• What title captures the magic of your Sparkling Moment?

  • Bubbly at the Beach. Girl Time on the Boardwalk. Name that part of the memory and it will always call you back to its essence, feelings of joy, and vibrancy.

Whatever it is for you, thicken the memory.

I hope your sparking moment shines throughout your day and life like sunlight dancing on water.