30 ways to invite in more joy

 

Here's the thing about joy: Sometimes it arrives like unexpected laughter or a hummingbird peeking at you through the kitchen window or a note in the mail just because or an exquisite turn of phrase in the novel you're reading late at night.

And sometimes you have to work at finding it in your everyday life.

It's like a muscle you need to flex and move and notice and use. 

That's why I often talk about it as being a practice. You have to practice seeking joy, creating space for joy, opening up to joy.

You have to make joy in your everyday life. 

Here are 30 ways that I dive into joy that I hope will help you get started with this practice. And here's the part where I say I hope you'll pick one today and give it a try. And then try another one tomorrow. And then make your own list. 

Yes.

1. Lip sync to Johnny Cash.

2. Go outside and listen to the birds sing.

3. Put on your favorite shoes and take yourself out for coffee.

4. Text a friend.

5. Watch Kid President.

6. Donate to your favorite charity.

7. Turn up "Shake It Off" and jump around until your insides rattle a bit.

8. Call your mom and tell her you love her (or call your BFF and do the same).

9. Write down 10 things you're grateful for.

10. Make soup (or some other favorite comfort food).

11. Write a love letter.

12. Head to the water, to the woods, to the strip of green in front or behind your home, and notice five beautiful things.

13. Ask your Facebook friends to tell you one good thing about their day.

14. Write a thank you note.

15. Go to a yoga class (or push yourself to do something you love that isn't at work or home and involves just being around others).

16. Check out your favorite children's book from the library and read it aloud (to yourself or someone else).

17. Eat a cupcake (or an apple).

18. Give yourself a superhero name.

19. Look at yourself in the mirror and say "I am whole. I am worthy. I am loved."

20. Sing a favorite childhood song with zeal (maybe join in with Kermit.

21. Find a dandelion and make a wish.

22. Watch your favorite movie (or even just a favorite scene).

23. Make a list of all the ways your grade school teachers changed your life.

24. Go through a carwash and pretend you're on an adventure.

25. Draw a map of your childhood hometown complete with labels of the most important places to your 8-year-old self.

26. Write a list of your favorite things.

27. Ask someone you love to tell you that story that always makes you both laugh so hard.

28. Take off your shoes and stand up (or just put your feet on the floor) and feel your toes and your heels and thank the earth for supporting you and keeping your grounded.

29. Give someone flowers (and maybe keep one stem just for you).

30. Ask for a hug. (And maybe even open your arms wide right now. Yes, right now. Open them wide. Breathing and feeling that space. And then wrap them around yourself in a hug that says, "You aren't alone honey. I've got you.)

How do you invite in more joy? Please share in the comments so we can keep the list going.

one joy.filled moment

The scene: She was tucked into bed for her nap. A story read. Stuffed animals and blankets gently placed around her. I walked down the hall to finish up Week 3 of Project Life, and inpired by Ali's post of photography tips, took my album outside to photograph Weeks 1-3 to share with you here (which will now happen tomorrow).

I moved the chair across the cement floor so I could stand on it, and after I snapped two photos, the blinds inside her bedroom window moved and a face suddenly appeared. She looked all around until suddenly finding me standing on the chair frozen as though not moving would cause her to decide to lay back down. 

After two seconds passed, we both started laughing.

I walked over to the window and snapped a few photos, capturing this one of her dimple and sheepish look of joy.

Ninety minutes later she is sleeping again (after one show please + one story + one more please + one or maybe three drinks of milk), and I've moved to taking photos of my album indoors and letting go of quite a few things on the to-do list.

Choosing to see the joy.

This is how I create space for more patience and love in the midst of toddlerland. This is how I fill the cracks in my heart. This is how open up just a bit more. This is how I find myself surrounded with so much beauty in the midst of the stuff that makes up this life. I do this again and again because at the end of the day, when I take a few moments to just notice, a version of these words so often comes to me:

 

*****

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creating space for joy

i opened my eyes (my heart) and took this photo . lake superior, april 2012

My daughter is discovering ways to move sand with rocks and sticks as she plays with her grandparents along the shore of Lake Superior. I stand at the water a few feet away, eyes closed, stomach and heart holding a few heavy pieces of this life. I listen to their laughter, the lapping water, and then for just a moment I hear only my breathing. 

I take a few deep breaths right here, feeling my feet beneath me, the sun warming my body, and the wind gently holding me. I focus on the space I create with each breath. Space inside me. Space around my heart. And with an exhale, I let pieces of what I do not need to carry slip out of me and sink into the earth.

Seeking a tactile reminder of this moment, I open my eyes and take a photo of a woman standing in the quiet joy that is creating space to move out of her head and back into her heart.

*****

Slowing down and noticing my breathing is one of my access points to joy. When I quiet the chatter in my head by sinking into the moment, I am gently pushed to see the beauty of simply being here. I notice the world around me, and my senses so often guide me to joy. And when I open up to joy, I feel myself mending and shedding the pieces inside me that no longer serve.

But it is a practice, this seeking joy stuff. It is something I have to cultivate and create space for. Coming to the page and writing about the moments where I find it (and documenting those moments through photos) help to remind me to listen to what I know and to keep on practicing.

*****

This week, Jennifer Louden, Marianne Elliott, and Susannah Conway have invited a few people to share some thoughts on creative joy. (Thank you ladies for asking me to play along as I love this topic!) The three of them are hosting a retreat on this juicy theme in June with workshops in writing, yoga, and photography. (Retreats about joy are a very very good thing!) Find out more about it here. And if you tweet, check out the #creativejoy hashtag this week.

sunday play

Because getting outside and playing with a bright orange ball can get anyone out of her grumps and back into her body.

Try it.

Dare you.

put the camera right on the ground (and discover joy)