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As a writer and lover of words, when I come across a new word or a new way to use an established word, I am instantly intrigued. Such has been my experience with the word, glimmer. In a time when folks are experiencing higher anxiety and feeling triggered by events either in the world, their community, or even their own lives, it doesn’t surprise me that the word, glimmer has fast become a description of something more than the original dictionary definition of a faint or wavering light. I first saw the term in a post from someone in the public eye whose 25 year old daughter took her own life almost a year ago.
In a pretty public journey, this woman has used her Instagram platform to bring attention to suicide and the associated grieving process she and her family have undergone over the recent year. It was in a few of her grief-related posts where I read this new idea of glimmers, which in its shortest form is defined as the opposite of triggers. Beyond this somewhat simplified description, glimmers are further described as tiny moments of awe that spark joy or delight, peace or gratitude, and inspire an inner sense of calm. Even more, they positively impact mental health; in the same way that triggers can shift one’s mood toward trauma and pain, glimmers help shift one’s mood toward hope and possibility. In other words, they strengthen the nervous system in small bursts and they influence the body in positive ways, making it feel safe and secure.
I have pretty much always been one who believes that we have the ability to reshape our thoughts and that gratitude is a powerful tool in the battle of the mind against doubt, fear, and self-criticism. Mind you, this doesn’t mean I necessarily always execute this idea well, but I have always known my mind is a battleground between what I perceive and what is. That is to say, we do not have to believe everything we think. Nor should we. The enemy of God and our soul truly prowls through this world seeking to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10), but, even more, he hopes to keep us stuck and miserable. He is wily and seeks to rob us of our joy and our peace.
One of the things I have tried to help my girls understand, embrace, and practice, is gratitude. But I am also hoping to help them remember to look for beauty and to embrace the goodness in the world. I agree with Kurt Vonnegut’s take on this:
“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
This, to me, is what the concept of glimmers is all about—noticing the good things around us, allowing ourselves to be captivated by beauty and delight and kindness. Even more, developing a keen awareness of the moments of our lives that speak to our hearts, our souls, our spirits. For me, this is shifting my perspective and experiencing the sacred in what seems like the mundane. Things like a breeze in the shade on a warm summer’s day, the glow of fireflies in the front yard, the crescent moon overhead, a favorite song coming on an extended playlist, a long drive on a summer afternoon with the windows down.
I hear my girls’ joy in such moments and it sparks joy in my heart every time. I love their delight, captured in their smiles and shining in their eyes. I love when one of them, like my youngest did, says out of the blue, I love drives. Life is filled with such simple joys and what I hope my girls come to not only appreciate but seek out is the practice of seeking out glimmers in the world and along their paths. I believe we definitely find more of the things we look for and I love watching the ways my girls are learning and practicing this for themselves (with and without my prompting). Again, I stand with Kurt Vonnegut on this:
“My Uncle Alex, who is up in Heaven now, one of the things he found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?” So I hope that you will do the same for the rest of your lives. When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”
Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young
And, for me, time spent with these two remarkable young women inspires me often to say, if this isn’t nice, what is, because sharing life with these two is a gift indeed.