Stay Present. Stay Warm.
I find it fascinating that a lot of things we truly enjoy in our lives or get creative ideas from has to do with us being in warmth. Just look around, a warm sunshine, a warm shower, a warm tea, a warm comforter, a warm bed, a warm piece of clothing, being warm by a bonfire, a warm hug, a warm handshake, a warm kiss. And in some of these phrases the “warm” word can even be replaced by ‘hot’ to amplify the intensity. But there is something interesting and common about us liking warm things and warm touches.
If I go a step further to invisible things like a warm letter, a warm speech, a warm welcome, a warm introduction, a warm reception when we experience a deep state of being we can say that we are in a feeling of warmth and peace. Why is that? I wondered.
Next thing I tried in this little experiment was to replace the word “warm” with a bunch of synonym words to see what I get and I was fascinated to see how many synonyms there are for just one word, depending on the context. Let’s see what I have arrived at.
If we replace word “warm” in the first context for tangible things (sunshine, shower, tea, comforter, bed, clothing), I would use words like wow, beautiful, magical, majestic, breathtaking, so nice, so pretty, “nothing can be better”, cosy, ‘hyggelig’, comfy, tasty and delicious to name a few.
If we replace the word “warm” in the second context of invisible things, I would use words like kind, accommodating, considerate, thoughtful, honest, truthful, heart-felt, touching, just nice, sweet, loving, caring, welcoming, friendly, passionate and compassionate.
There is also being warm on the inside that may or may not have anything to do with warm things or touches. When you are fully present in and with nature, when you are looking at your sleeping kid, when you are taking a moment to be grateful for everything in your life. In those moments, being warm means feeling peace, grace, calm, joy, unconditional love, fulfilment and happiness.
Being present means staying warm on the inside. When we are warm on the inside we can warm anything else on the outside. When you are warm on the inside in your relationships with your partner or kids, your actions will be caring, accommodating, compassionate and loving. When you are warm on the inside in your approach to writing an email to your ‘hard to work with’ colleague, the way you write will be kind, friendly, honest and compassionate. The warmth of your letter or email will be heartfelt by the receiving side. Even when you are taking a cold shower you can still stay warm on the inside by being fully present, taking deep breaths in and out. By being present you warm your body from the inside, even though the conditions outside are really or seemingly cold.
Stay present. Stay warm.
