What makes you feel vibrantly alive?

Aliveness exists over a wide breadth from joyous to grave yet it all exists to get us out of our heads and back into our bodies where all emotions originate. Aliveness can be as simple as a barefoot walk in the yard or just feeling the warmth of the sun.

On Sunday I turned over a garden bed and planted my first green onions of the season. There’s nothing like feeling my bare hands in soil that I composted myself, knowing that I’ll have onions ready to eat in a few weeks. It’s a simple pleasure that sparks a joyous feeling of aliveness in my being.

When playing rugby, readying to receive a kickoff triggered the same joyous anticipation. Now I feel the same alertness waiting to receive a pickleball serve.

What simple pleasures provoke your aliveness? There’s nothing complicated about feeling wonderfully alive. It surges with a simple walk outside in crisp air.

I’ve learned that true aliveness doesn’t arise when my attention is captivated by anything on a screen. Aliveness is about fully attentive presence that warms our hearts with appreciation. Social media or streaming a show brings forth a much lower grade of feeling that truthfully is more deadening to my spirit.

Connection is an aspect of aliveness that can be enjoyed in person or imagined in causal gratitude. In the process of writing this message it’s my intention to offer you insights that may spark your aliveness. How am I doing so far? Do you know what brings you gloriously alive?

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Of course the pinnacle of aliveness happens between partners while intimately enjoying one another’s bodies and beings. I’m certain that I’ve never felt so blessed.

Aliveness brings forth a joyousness that only exists in the present.

Look at the powerful synonyms for aliveness: alertness, appreciation, attention, consciousness, perception, realization, recognition, and understanding.

Each describes a slightly different flavor of aliveness but each of these can be experienced even when unhappy. If we stay present with challenging feelings long enough for them to pass through us and beyond we get to feel the power of thriving. That too is aliveness.

Everything that happens to us is actually happening for us including temporary disappointments and challenges.

Think of your life as a garden. It’s your choice to embrace simple pleasures in the present moment. When you do be sure to appreciate them and they will expand.

Will you turn of your screens and be fully present today? If you do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the multiple blessings of aliveness that will come your way.