little joys and little sorrows
a new series to spot the hidden joys of life
Hello! Every week I really fight the urge to say Happy Tuesday! since it’s such a corporate phrase that I absolutely despise. I try really hard not to let the corporate girlie in me (which is miniscule) leak into my personal life. I make it a point not to say it at work even when my manager practically screams it every week. It’s the little battles that count.
Speaking of little, I went for a little hike on the weekend which in some ways brought me back to life. This past month has been horrible to me, I am a victim of a sick cosmic joke, and I am not afraid to say it. Every bad thing I think about seems to manifest in front of me. I’ve surpassed Nirvana and gone straight to whatever place they keep the dark magic. I am simply too spiritual. I am hovering as I type this.
My friend told me perhaps I should try unmanifesting. To my surprise, there’s quite a lot of information about this, most of which says I just need to focus on the good things rather than trying to dispel the bad, which I feel is a running theme throughout every part of our lives. Staying positive, practising gratitude, looking for the good in everything—this week I shall do just that.
Because of the way this month has been, I haven’t been able to stick to any of my routines (workouts, writing etc.). Usually, I’d like to write in a notebook every morning throughout the week and then pick up a theme that I can edit or extend for Substack but unfortunately, I have just been coming up with something the day before or even the day of. This week I think my luck has run out so I just want to share with you a list of things that brought me joy this week and things that did not.
Little joys:
Seeing deer footprints in the mud on my hike with my boyfriend
Sneaking up on probably the same herd of deer to get really close (they’re so pretty!)
Feeling like an outdoorsy gal again clapping our (very) muddy boots together on the side of the pavement after said walk
Writing in my new reading journal from Papier and feeling like this will help me retain books better
Writing and reflecting on books as a way to spend more time with them after I finish reading
Finishing my first book of the year! (Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang)
Enjoying my slow (or should I say glacial) read of The Secret History
Creating my first digital product!
January is nearly over :)
Writing 1k+ words of a short story that is absolute trash but it’s still 1k+ words
Little sorrows:
Lots of stomach aches and a mini stomach flu
It’s still winter
Dodging social events at work
I think I might make this a more regular thing for this Substack, and I hope you’ll join me as well. As I wrote these lists, I realised I had more things to be happy about than bad, when before writing the lists I thought the opposite.
Why are little joys harder to spot? Perhaps that’s a topic for next week…
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Loved it
i love this idea! ps love all the content pls keep it up!
my little win for the week was surviving my first full time work week🫶🏻