Used & Vintage Luxury Bags
Unbidden, the universe came to my doorstep and let me know how to face the pain of my loss without running away, numbing or checking out in the myriad ways I have developed to do so! This is not the kind of joy I would have wanted at 25 or 35. Sports cars with the wind in your hair can be joyous as well. But this is a joy that is harder earned and impossible to steal.
I learned this early in my life and it has been a gift. A gift to remind myself constantly to find joy in things before vintage handbags melbourne me. Mundane things I would otherwise walk past while planning my day, thinking of chores yet to be done, boxes to tick. If we don’t stop and consciously see joy it is easily missed.
Small and medium sorrows, not devastating ones. But their shadows try to take over my life anyway. You are right that joy is an action. I felt it this morning in the shower, when the smell of the French soap I bought last summer told me that my bad day is a little less bad if it smells so good. I find joy where I least expect it but not because I don't seek for it! - because one thing I know now is that I must be open to see or feel joy.
I could hear the breeze through leaves, a small whistling bird. And then I saw my children’s faces, clear and smiling. They add up, keep you in fine balance if you just acknowledge them. And they push the darkness away when you most need them to. I also have an unendangered, full life but joy can sometimes escape me.
I find joy in morning walks at my local park, saying good morning to every person that passes me by. In taking time to FaceTime loved ones who are far away. Seeking inspirational quotes and sharing with friends. In swimming, in any body of water I can. Seeing everyday interactions with strangers as a way to spread loving kindness by a kind word or gesture. Being a good daughter, friend, cousin.
I am not well known outside of the community that I have worked in, and shop in and hang out in, but nor do I want to be. Indeed, joy for me is lack of envy. It's seeing a beautiful young woman and just being happy to see her, not wishing I was like that. It's seeing beautiful things, but not wishing to own them. It's having the freedom from anxiety that allows me to be where I am, to feel warmth, smell freshness, see the beauty in the sea, the bush, the sky, whether it's a sunny day or a grey, rainy day. It's the quirky interaction with a passing stranger.
Watching someone truly enjoy themselves. Dancing, singing, making, playing. Feeling well, or at least a little bit better. It can be everywhere if you let it in. I find a recurring joy in the simple pleasures of life. A moment of quiet in the morning with a cup of tea, or breathing in an evening walk at sundown.
My joy first and foremost is in my family. My partner Tim and our three incredible children, Elias, Billy and August. This joy is not only the laughter and the hugs but it is also the lessons they teach me that bring me closer to who I am. Up second would be knitting and reading books, preferably in nature.
At times that troubles me, for what good is a writer when no one reads her words? But as I sit here starting a new story, feeling the magic of the beginning, the possibility, I know, this is how I want to spend the fleeting time I have on this planet. My fifth book “Lorettas letzter Trip” (Lorettas last trip) will be published in a few days. I know it won’t become a bestseller, but nevertheless I persevere. At least I have the joy of the work.
The scales are not balanced between us humans and that sucks. I do the silly thing therapists and gurus remind us to do on a regular basis and write down, draw or paint about the things I am grateful for. It's an ongoing practice, I forget about it sometimes. But when I get knocked off the "healthy horse" and my head gets overwhelmed and my sleep gets shittier...
So I find joy on the steps of a museum where I met a photographer with whom I speak for 5 minutes as if I knew him forever. I find joy thinking that a man loves me enough to sit calmlu through my panic. I find joy in thinking that I can be happy even if my body hurts me.
We can all feel connected in the awe-inspiring magic that uplifts us into rock quaking pure unadulterated JOY! My last words is journey with me my brother. Let us be inspired to cloak the world in the majesty that is the mystery. In sharing this, humanity as a whole can find the Joy as we did upon our Birth. I find the most peaceful joy is in close, quiet, intimate moments. There is a joy to be found when I actively seek it, say in social events with friends and family; holidays, going out for dinner, concerts and the likes.
I love finding out about new things. I love that I'm smarter today than I was yesterday. I love that I'm not cynical anymore. I love the complexities of things I don't yet understand. I love that one day I might understand them.
It was silly and adorable and whimsical and I knew that part of the appeal was that she was playing on that thing where the youngest is always the baby, how their childhood is often drawn out as long as it can be. And things have been shit recently. Loved ones getting sick and the rigours of everyday life and parenting seeding matrimonial tensions. And the £5 living room blinds were raised all the way up so I could gaze at the hills of South London while it pissed down with rain.