JOY IN THE FLEETING MOMENT: 5 Minutes of Heaven on Earth

Hmmm, what was the most exciting five minutes of your life?

This question came up in a church-related small group in which I participate. (The context was that heaven would be like those five minutes forever and ever.) Most of the group answered it was the birth of their first child. I don't have children so that wasn't an option for me.

I pondered the question awhile both during and after the group meeting. But I couldn't put my finger on any experience that would fit the bill.

I've had some proud moments along the way – winning a few awards for the proverbial few minutes of fame. Those were certainly highlight reel moments in my life. But the most exciting five minutes? I can't honestly say that any of those experiences fit the bill.

I suppose I could be disconcerted by this realization. After 50+ years on this planet, there isn't one experience I can point to that rises head and shoulders above the rest. Does that mean my life has fallen short of expectations? Some might argue that it does.

But there is another way of looking at the equation. Perhaps I'm wired in such a way that my joys are measured out in smaller helpings. (I am admittedly a bit of an anomaly – some might say unconventional or even eccentric – in the spectrum of personalities. I realized that truth and came to terms with it some time ago.)

I find pleasure in simple moments that might not register on the conventional Richter Scale of life altering experiences:

Focusing my binoculars on a butterfly and realizing it is the uncommon (dare I say rare) Hickory Hairstreak. Returning to the exact same spot a year later and finding it again.

Coming upon a specimen of the blue mosaic darner dragonflies – ten plus dragonflies that are all but identical – and assembling field marks, habitat and behaviour to determine which one it is.

Turning a corner on a woodland trail on a drizzly spring day and finding a fallout of extravagantly coloured warblers cavorting in the bushes and singing with abandon.

None of these experiences would qualify as the most exciting five minutes of my life. But truth be told, I wouldn't exchange any one of them – let alone all of them – for the promise of one overwhelming moment.

Perhaps the most exciting five minutes of my life is still ahead of me. Or perhaps it will never happen. It just may be that for me joy is the continuum of small, exhilarating experiences of the minutia of life.

This much I know. Each of those brief, exhilarating moments is a metaphor in itself for the importance of cherishing joy when and where you find it. Heaven on earth may just be finding that Hickory Hairstreak a third time in the exact same spot.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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