Finding joy, even just a sliver
This month, I have been noticing all that is good in the midst of stress and life stuff. I have been noticing laughter in the midst of heartache and news cycles.
I have been noticing new friendships blossom and sweet check-ins with others. I have been counting the wake-ups until I join a dear friend and ex-pat in Mexico for a week or more. All this in the midst of terrible news and heart-wrenching current events.
Finding joy is increasingly important to our survival as humans, and I know it is tricky to feel joy, happiness, or even contentment for some of us when we are faced with the darkness in the world and often darkness in our own lives. I believe it is only through grief almost a decade and a half ago, deep grief, that I truly was able to see more light in this world.
I think it is our right and almost duty to find slivers of joy, silver linings, and light when things are dark. It is how we continue to survive. We survive with light. A plant left in darkness alone, even with water, will not flourish, often wilting, withering, and becoming unrecognizable.
We can feel guilt or hope in these moments of clarity, these moments of joy. I encourage you to find them and try not to attach guilt or brush them away.
A list of joy, of silver linings, might be one of the best parts of helping our mental health. I will start; you go next. What is yours?
Moss on a redwood tree
Finding shade under a large oak in our small town
Christopher's quick one-liners that make me pause or giggle
Ryan's FaceTime calls from LA where we talk about everything or nothing
Daily calls to soul family
Sun peeking through the trees in the early morning on our back porch
Smiles from students as we all arrive at a class I am teaching
The perfect color blush
Sunday mornings when I make a whole milk honey latte with a touch of nutmeg
The children next door and their big smiles and giggles
Leading yoga retreats and getting to know humans I have "known" for years but really getting to know them now
Every extra day we get with our almost 15-year-old Labrador
Peonies
Long car rides with Suz - we are overdue
The twenty to thirty minutes I get on the back patio some mornings after I teach, with our dogs sitting in the sun
Planning adventures, for planning for the future brings hope, too
