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.

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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…

the winter sun on my much-needed walk (2024)

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