The joy of noticing adorableness!

Welcome to April and ‘gigil’, the word of the month! Gigil is a Tagalog word has recently been added to that esteemed tome the Oxford English Dictionary. It describes that intense feeling we have from bearing witness to something beautiful, cute or adorable. Being

momentarily overwhelmed by cuteness is a handy tool to gain some equilibrium in times of being bewildered by world events.

Let’s try to apply this most endearing concept to our everyday lives during the autumnal months ahead. Try to allow ourselves at least 15 minutes a day to search out and embrace all things gigil. And the best time of day to do this…yes…a morning walk! (More on that subject later, I never give up!)

Recent examples of my gigil encounters include watching two doves meticulously construct a most intricate nest in my cherry blossom tree and then, low and behold, punctiliously and joyfully feeding their little ones.

Of course, patting my local tabby cats, willing them to do roly polies, goes without saying to be an important factor for me in observing delightfulness. But, so too is watching an intriguing array of very happy dogs interacting joyfully with each other and their proud owners at a local dog park. Two labrador puppies blissfully rubbing their backs on the grass in a weird horizontal rock and roll dance rhythm, added an extra gigil dimension!

Observing wattle birds drunkenly hanging upside down on spectacular bottlebrush trees is most certainly bearing witness to adorable behaviour and a zest for life (in a bird sense).

Lastly, on my return route from my morning outing I observed an enormous group of beautiful cockatoos high in the branches of majestic gums trees in a neighbourhood playground, noisily and ardently discussing their plans for the next excursion, and then whoosh, they were off still chatting non-stop about important bird matters.

Allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by cuteness can be a gentle and soothing tonic, a meditation in fact, a connection to the world outside our busy minds.

Let’s embrace the autumnal days ahead with the aim to bear witness to beauty.