A Million Seeds of Joy | 02 SAVOR
How savoring rewires your reward system to notice the good again.
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After all that has happened this last week, this practice has been keeping my wheels on.
In a world filled with algorithms that fight for our attention and bait our rage, where productivity and speed are often measures of worth, the intentional act of savoring the small things is a revolutionary act.
I checked on the news far more than I should have this last week. I wrote a bunch of thoughts about current events because I have so many thoughts. But I posted none of them.
I enjoyed fresh rosemary and parsley from the garden. I started decorating for fall. I put up my fire cider for winter and started more vanilla extract.
It was these small, slow moments that brought me back to center.
It is almost impossible to savor things when I’m in a distracted rush.
Savoring is an invitation to slow down and linger long over the lovely. Even in the face of the hard and ugly. Maybe especially there.
Here is our second practice for growing joy gardens.
Practice 02: SAVOR
Savoring helps rewire our brain’s reward system to recognize and hold onto goodness, even when things are hard.
In neuroscience it is frequently said, “Neurons that fire together wire together.”
Our nervous systems are not static. They are constantly being shaped by our choices… including the content we consume.
This last week has been a case study in how much social media can impact the state of our nervous systems and the tone of our conversations.
Anger/rage is largely a threat-based emotion that only takes milliseconds to trigger. It is low-hanging fruit for those wanting to go big on social media.
Rage spins up quickly. It only takes a few seconds to send our nervous systems into threat response overdrive. This is because it is designed to keep us safe.
We want a fast reaction to a bear.
But now we can encounter “bears” 24-7 thanks to our devices. Each new post with perceived threats only intensifies the situation.
Joy, on the other hand, builds far more slowly with focused attention, practice, and nurturing.
The average social media user spends 1.7 seconds per post when scrolling on their phone. 1.7 seconds. And up to 3 seconds if it is a video.
Scrolling is the opposite of savoring. Scrolling easily locks our brains into threat-scanning mode and dials up our nervous system agitation.
Is it any wonder, then, how social content can build into tidal waves of viral rage and fear? It takes only a few seconds to unleash and is much harder to quell.
Savoring is a survival skill for the social media landscape we find ourselves in.
And it strengthens the neural pathways that make joy more accessible.
So let’s dive in.
Every pause to savor is a quiet rebellion against systems built on outrage.
To SAVOR is to let wonder settle into your body long enough for your nervous system to register goodness and return to safety.
What does savoring look like?
Cradling a warm mug. Pay attention to the steam. Feel the warmth radiating into your hands. Sip slowly.
When a song speaks to you, take note. 🎵 Write the line down. Why did it capture your attention.
Finding something beautiful and holding your gaze on it like you were soaking it into your synapses. Because you are.
Rereading a kind message or encouraging word.
Noticing the flavors you are eating as you chew your food.
Savoring is focusing your attention on the small positive experiences that happen every day.
This act literally reshapes the reward circuitry of our brains.
Every time we practice savoring, we teach our brains to recognize goodness and remind ourselves that joy is worth returning to.
How to Savor the Moment
We often miss the tiny joys of life because we rush right past them. Here are a few simple steps to begin to soak in the goodness around us.
Stop long enough to notice the small and quiet moments of beauty around you. This gets easier with practice. Maybe to start out, have a little alarm that reminds you to stop. Or make it a habit that you stop and look for goodness every time you take a stretch break from work.
Sense your surroundings. What do I see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Feel? Let yourself lean into the sensory details—like you’re taking a slow photograph through your senses.
Say what you love. I love the warmth of my coffee cup. The aroma as I take a sip.
Stay with the good, positive experience a little longer than you normally would. You might even want to scribble a line down into a notebook to remember it.
Our Prompt
What is one experience you noticed and savored intentionally that you might have missed before?
If you are comfortable doing so, please share in the comments.
Here is our series’ page so you can find all the posts in case you need to find them in one place.
I’m so grateful you are here. And I can’t wait to read your experiences and thoughts.
You are loved,
Great post! Off to savour the afternoon with good friends (Canadian spelling)
The only “rage” I want to experience is the beauty that I find in watercolors.