If at first...

Last week I started a blog. Not this blog -- a different one. It had a cool name. And it was a big deal just to, well, do it. I'd been thinking about it for at least a year, but hadn't pulled the trigger. And then one night -- well, voila!

I didn't tell anyone about it at first. I just blithely wrote the first few entries, safe in my cocoon of total anonymity. Then I mentioned it to two or three friends, and they all asked the same question: "So what are you blogging about?" My lame answer: "Nothing in particular. Just stuff."

Seriously. It was just something I needed to do. Create a place to write out loud. Outside of my head. And my journal. And why not? There are a gazillion other writers out there right now, doing exactly the same thing, for exactly the same reason. And I'm not sitting here wondering what they're blogging about. Besides, right before I created my first blog I saw an adorably chic 11-year-old girl wearing a t-shirt that said, "No one really cares about your blog." Enough said.

But the question stayed with me. Nagging at that part of me that lives to create clever ideas. As I thought about the topics I was itching to write about, it became clear that most of them centered around a common theme: things that delight me. Excursions I take, food I savor, stuff I read, conversations with friends. Phrases I hear, songs that stick in my head, hikes I love, beer my son insists I drink. Color combinations, recipes, magazine clips, gallery shows, picnic spots, a rare snuggle with my psycho kitty -- life's little pleasures are endless, really. And they ought to be properly celebrated.

In June I read Anne LeClaire's Listening Below the Noise, and among the countless things she said that resonated with me was that, at the end of each day, she jotted in her journal things that "amazed, surprised or delighted" her. Lately I keep hearing about the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal, but this sounded way different to me. And I tried it during a trip to Sanibel Island later that month. It was, as it turned out, an effortless endeavor. And the inspiration behind this blog.

Of course, the blog name "Delights" has long ago been snagged by someone far more enterprising than me. But "Dlikes" will do just fine. Looking forward to sharing...