GREENSBORO – The writer E.B. White, author of “Charlotte’s Web,” once wrote, “Every morning when I wake up, I am torn between the desire to save the world and the desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day!”
I have loved this quote for many years now. These days, with the Marines being sent to quell citizen protests, asylum seekers being incarcerated and alarming climate news arriving every day, it could be tempting to lean into saving the world at the expense of savoring the world. I believe that we need to heed both impulses.
Savoring means we slow down long enough to look around at the beauty of our Vermont landscapes, breathing it in. It means taking the time for a meal with family or friends and tasting the good food we are eating. Savoring means listening to music without distractions, taking time to enjoy a good book or joining a community activity.
Recently a therapist colleague shared this with me: “A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being (Tao et al., 2024) found that savoring plays a role in enhancing overall psychological resilience. Savoring, tuning into what we enjoy in our lives, can help us to build our resilience over time.” So, it turns out there is science to back up E.B. White’s desire to savor the world. We need to invest in our own well-being and resilience if we are to have any energy for saving our beautiful and aching world. I’m even arguing for extra savoring time. The more we are tuned into the world, the more we can act with courage and power in whatever ways we are called to show up right now.
I’m finding myself out in the streets demonstrating more than I thought I would in this later chapter of life, and it takes some determination and grit to get out there (and does it always have to rain or snow when Vermonters gather outside the Statehouse?!). I’m also watching and listening to birds, reading more and taking long walks with friends. I’m savoring the beauty of the world; and in doing so, I find the hope I need to try to save what I can.
Reverend Sarah Lammert is the founder of Shared Vision Consulting in Vermont and works as the Federal Chaplaincies Endorser for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Reverend Sarah Lammert
Reverend Sarah Lammert is the founder of Shared Vision Consulting in Vermont and works as the Federal Chaplaincies Endorser for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
