some recent joy connections…

As we enter into the second half of September, and hot summer temperatures still have a grip on my little corner of the world, and high stress and anxiety still have a grip on me, I continue to find it important to be on the lookout for joy connections.

I try to be aware of them when they come. I try to grab hold of them when I notice them. I try to be grateful for every joy connection that comes my way.

I go looking for them, sometimes even try to create them for myself, because that’s how important they are to me and my well-being and my soul nourishment.

Here are a few recent ones…

Diffusing essential oils while I relax and watch art videos.

Before-breakfast walks – and the nearness of a deer running right past us one gray and cooler-than-usual morning.

Lots of front porch sittin’ before the day turns too hot, just breathing the fresh air and reading…and sometimes looking up at the blue sky, and sometimes looking at the colors of the nearby painted rocks.

A lunch outing with a friend and my husband.

Painting.

And doodling.

Laughing at funny shows.

Spotting the rabbits and butterflies and birds (including hummingbirds) in our yard.

Little things. Sometimes only brief moments. Small pockets of relief in what can otherwise be a blanket of stress.

What’s a recent joy connection you’ve had?

doodling on watercolors…

In my creative play time with art supplies, there are several different things I consider to be on my list of favorites because I can’t choose just one.

Painting with metallic watercolors on a black background definitely has a spot on that list. I sometimes use black paper. Other times I cover a white or cream journal page with black gesso and let it dry.

And then I spend time painting and playing with the metallic watercolors.

And then…sometimes I add outlining and doodling with pens or markers.

It’s how I spent several hours this past week. I opened one of my journals to a page I’d started a few days earlier where I’d used metallic watercolors on black gesso (a part of that page was shown in my last post) and I got out gel pens in white, pink, yellow, green, and blue.

With the white gel pen, I started outlining some of the shapes that had formed from the metallic watercolors. And I doodled – sometimes on top of the watercolors, sometimes on the black gesso – using the white and pink and yellow and green and blue gel pens.

Hanging out with my husband while the TV played in the background, I let myself relax into the calming distraction of doodling.

Over the following few days, I picked up my journal and added more bits and bobs and dots and doodles.

Just breathing slowly, letting the pens and colors play on the page, distracting my mind from the worries and fears of life.

Doing this is SO calming and relaxing and distracting.

I filled up the page with hours of something that helped me feel more peace and joy.

I’ll probably add a bit more to this page over the weekend. There are some areas, especially in the lower right, where I’ll spend some time doodling.

And then, eventually, I’ll paint another page with black gesso or I’ll get out my journal filled with black paper, and I’ll open a set of my metallic watercolor paints, and I’ll do some more of this type of creative play.

I’ll do it for more calm, more inner quiet, more peace.

More soul nourishment.

joy connections & soul nourishment this week…

At-home movie time with my husband.

Watching hummingbirds and rabbits in our backyard.

Having a dream where my cat Betsy is hanging out with me. She passed away in 1998 when she was at least 18 years old and, even though it’s been so long, I still miss her – as I do all of the animals who’ve shared my life – so very much. It’s always good when one of them visits me in a dream.

Listening to music from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Painting and doodling.

Lots of time reading on the front porch.

Going for walks in the freshness of early morning.

Moments of feeling peaceful. I don’t have those very often, and I treasure them when they come.

These things have nourished me and brought me joy.

What joy connections have you found this week? What has nourished your soul?