Tag: stress

recent joy connections…

Life is exhausting.

I hate to feel that way. And I feel guilty for not being more positive. But life has been hard for many years, and it’s exhausting.

Life being hard is the reason I have to intentionally and deliberately look for joy connections. Seeking little moments of joy didn’t come about because I was happy all the time and seeing joy in everything, it came about due to the necessity of finding ways to keep myself going.

I started the practice years ago, and it continues to this day. Because I need it.

Some of my recent joy connections include…

The very-welcome visitors we have to our little backyard. The rabbits and hummingbirds and lightning bugs and butterflies and red birds (and other birds).

Kitchen radio music with so many songs from the 70s and 80s.

Reading and breathing the fresh air and general porch sittin’ time.

Going for walks with my husband.

Pulling out an old canvas to add new layers. And making time for my personal at-home summer art retreat.

Roaming around YouTube and letting it randomly play old music videos, including part of a 1973 Eagles concert.

Talks with friends.

Bursts of unexpected laughter while watching TV.

These are all joy connections, moments of connecting to joy. Often little things, and often brief, but these things can make such a difference in the course of my day.

What joy connections have you found lately? Look for them. Notice them.

It really can help when life feels exhausting.

❤

it’s still the little things…

I’ve written before about how it’s often the little things that can brighten a day and bring a bit of joy. Little things that can help with continuing to go on, moment by moment, through the difficult days.

It’s the times of taking a walk – whether by myself, or with my husband, or with a friend and her dog. Enjoying the view, the fresh air, the moving of the body, the taking a deep breath and feeling more ease.

It’s the times spent in front of an easel or a journal, playing with paint and being in the moment. Not thinking or worrying, just moving the brush and the paint.

 

It’s the times enjoying the spring blooms. Seeing the beauty of nature. Appreciating the colors.

It’s the times of unexpected delights, like a new bloom on a potted plant that had seemed almost beyond hope until my husband did some sort of green-thumb renewal to bring it back to life.

There are other little things too, filling my days this spring in between my husband’s doctor visits and medical tests. Lots and lots of porch-sittin’ time, enjoying so many absolutely gorgeous days with feel-good temps we’ve had these past weeks. Slowly reading and savoring a good novel. Watching comfort TV shows while cozy in bed. Phone calls and voxes and texts with friends and family. Kitchen-dancing to 70s and 80s music coming from our favorite real-life radio station.

Little things. But big helpers.

What little things come into your days to help you get through? Look for those joy connections. Do those things, even if they seem little or small, that help you.

Sometimes the little things can make all the difference.

❤

 

coffee and cornbread, a moment of calm…

Morning sunshine spills through the windows, and the air is filled with the smells of coffee brewing and cornbread cooking. On the radio tucked into a corner on the counter, the DJ gives the local temperature and then a favorite 80s tune comes on.

Standing in the kitchen on this chilly February morning, I have a rare moment of feeling peaceful, cozy, calm. A rare moment of feeling optimistic about the day ahead and life in general.

I listen to the music as I tend to the task in front of me. For the past few years, the way I make cornbread is by cooking it in a skillet on the stovetop, and I flip the rounds the way I do pancakes.

When they’re done, I choose one, top it with melted butter, and enjoy my piece of cornbread with a hot cup of coffee.

I don’t know what challenges the day will bring or what is ahead. I don’t know if my husband will feel good, if I’ll handle things well, if anxiety and fear will take over.

For now, though, I’m not focused on any of that. I’m able to be in the present moment, this moment of calm.

And I’m grateful.

❤