My friend Sarah used to send me links of satisfying pictures. You know, like a flawlessly organized desk drawer or things that fit perfectly into something else or dreamy shadows. Many of poet and photographer, Joseph Massey’s snaps are like this. There are just some moments in life that are simply……..pleasing.
Maybe you know what I am talking about.
When my husband and I first married, I washed our clothes each Wednesday in our apartment building’s laundry room. There was another woman who had the same schedule as me. Each week, we’d juggle around each other in the small space as we changed loads or added detergent. When the time came to fold the laundry, I’d take mine back to our loft, but she would take each item out of the dryer and then give it a sharp SNAP that seemed to magically iron the garment in mid-air. After the SNAP, she lay the fabric on the top of the dryer and folded it as if it were going in a department store display case.
I tried not to stare but I was mesmerized. It was satisfying to watch as her snap took out all the wrinkles and she folded each item like Marie Kondo before Marie Kondo.
Perhaps I inherited this small satisfaction. I remember watching my father put on a cotton button down shirt over his t-shirt and begin to button it from the bottom, skipping every other button. I asked him why once. He said if he started from the bottom, he was sure he wouldn’t miss a button hole and have them not line up at the end. He enjoyed crossing back down to pick up the buttons he missed. It pleased him to do it that way and it pleased me to watch.
My 11-year-old son vocalizes his delight in moments such as these. He loves to watch his daddy tap a particularly long ash off his evening cigar or finds amusement in squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste out from the tube. He will actually say, aloud, “This is so satisfying.” He has even found contentment in the sound of certain words like Pelamushi which he will repeat until the rest of us go mad.
And how about you? Is there some small way of being or the way something fits perfectly that brings you more delight than it should?
The most beautiful sound for me? The snap of the net when your basketball shot is pure. And the ceremony of swishing shot after shot as you practice by yourself. Even as I age and grow less and less capable against opponents, I can always go it alone and shoot with the same accuracy as I’ve always had. Snap, snap, snap, snap for an hour.
Straightening a crooked rug, making an unmade bed (but not my own), closing cupboard doors that have been left open, and turning off lights that have been left on. Thanks for the opportunity to ponder satisfaction. From my list, I like to clean up other people's messes...might need to analyze that further. =)