Finding Joy

The mundane things that give me hope when I need it most

Three per day, I’m told.*

Write them down. Doesn’t matter how ridiculous, how real, how important to anyone but you. If they bring you some degree of happiness, they deserve your recognition.

Like swallowing daily pills, capture your observations. Any spark of interest, any surge of hope: jot it down. Here’s my list for a week in May.

1. The nightlight’s pattern on the wall

2. Waking up: wow, I was able to go back to sleep after all

3. Dog watching me, always

4. No gloves!

5. Edits to make on a manuscript

6. Leaves four times bigger than last week

7. Blender clatter: oats + water = oat milk

8. Wiggly lamb tails

9. Flash of orange: an oriole on the picnic table

10. Small red frog in the brown leaf litter

11. Reading a chapter of my recently completed story: I like it!

12. Greenery ringing the pond

13. A pair of curious otters poking their heads from the water

14. The chocolate-rich aroma of spring soil

15. Watching the rhododendrons bloom

16. A query, successfully sent into the ether

17. A card game with my son: this time I will win

18. The pride of owning a big stick … for a couple minutes

19. Scrabble with my husband: this time I will win

20. Curling up in bed to read

21. Upside-down dog