Savoring in Positive Psychology refers to the capacity to fully enjoy and appreciate positive experiences. It involves actively focusing on the pleasure, beauty, or significance of an event, allowing the person to prolong and enhance their emotional experience. It helps people cultivate gratitude, deepen connections with others, and increase overall well-being.
Savoring is not just limited to the present (immersing oneself in the present experience).
Savoring can also be anticipatory (looking forward to positive events). It can also be reminiscent (reflecting on past joys).
Savoring is about transforming what can be a fleeting moment into a meaningful one through awareness and presence.
In his work The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel presents the idea of time as sacred and suggests that human beings can sanctify time by fully inhabiting it. He contrasts the "tyranny of space" (material possessions, achievements) with the sanctity of time, arguing that true spirituality is not found in accumulating things, but in how we experience and elevate moments in time.
For Heschel, the Sabbath represents a pinnacle of sacred time, where people withdraw from the mundane, focus on inner life, and enter a state of sacred awareness. He emphasizes that time itself can be made holy through conscious, reflective presence, not just by religious acts but by truly being present in that moment.
The Connection
Both “savoring” and “creating sacred moments in time,” are about elevating the experience of the present. They share several core elements:
- Mindful Presence: Both concepts require a person to be fully present. Savoring demands a conscious immersion in the moment, just as Heschel’s sacred time requires an attentiveness to the now.
- Transcending the Ordinary: In savoring, everyday moments can become sources of profound joy and meaning when appreciated fully. Heschel’s sacred time is an invitation for people to detach from the material world to embrace spiritual depth.
- Emotional and Spiritual Depth: Savoring often leads to heightened emotional states, such as joy and gratitude, which enrich life. Heschel’s view of sacred moments elevates life by creating opportunities for spiritual connection and reflection, allowing time to be experienced as a divine gift.
- Intention: Both savoring and sanctifying time require an intentional effort. One must decide to savor a moment just as one must choose to sanctify time through reflection, ritual, or mindfulness.
In essence, savoring is a psychological process that echoes Heschel’s theological insights. By savoring, one takes ordinary moments and turns them into opportunities for spiritual and emotional enrichment—mirroring the act of sanctifying time, which Heschel believed could be achieved by truly living in the moment with presence and purpose. Both approaches encourage us to resist the rush of life, to pause, and to transform time into something sacred and meaningful.
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