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I am participating in the
Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOL19)
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for the month of March 2019.
Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOL19)
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for the month of March 2019.
A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity
for teacher-writers to share and reflect.
for teacher-writers to share and reflect.
"In my own worst seasons, I've come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time, at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again." - Barbara Kingsolver, how to find joy.
I love this quote; I love the idea of teaching oneself to be joyful, of purposefully connecting to joy, singling it out, finding it.
The older I get, the clearer I am about what I need to feel good, to feel joy. Here are my favorite ways to bring myself out of the blues:
- Walking in the woods, along the creek, just a half mile from my house.
- Writing...just putting pen to paper and journaling about whatever is on my mind, writing it OUT.
- Exercise! Lifting weights, running outside or on a treadmill, taking a class - getting my body moving.
- Eating kindly - treasuring myself with healthy, nourishing, home cooked foods. I call this "retrEAT", meaning I try to eat the way I am fed on a retreat, which is always varied, healthy, delicious food in respectful portions.
- Slowing down and being present in the midst of young children playing, to observe and listen to them, to ride their magical wave. This never fails to crack me up. As a preschool teacher, this means I have the possibility of real joy five days a week!
- Finding some quiet, alone time, sitting with a cup of tea, thinking, breathing, praying, mothering me.
- Finding some quiet, alone time, sitting with a cup of tea, thinking, breathing, praying, mothering me.
Lovely thoughts. Yes, we can return to joy when we remember how to get there. Just finished a Bible study about Job - A Story of Unlikely Joy, by Lisa Harper. If Job could find joy, we all can!
ReplyDeleteLove this line of yours: "Slowing down and being present..." That works wherever we find ourselves. Thanks for an encouraging slice today.
Yes - if Job could find joy, we all can! Love that! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteThere are so many insights and encouragements in this post! Thank you! I wrote "finding joy" as a draft title to remind me to think more deeply about where my joy comes from.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I wondered where to stop, as I wrote...because each item on the list led me to other thoughts. I may write more about this, too!
Delete"Finding some quiet, alone time, sitting with a cup of tea" is also one of my favourite sources of joy.
ReplyDeleteIt is so simple and, yet, so lovely! Thanks for writing!
DeleteSo many ways to find joy, the secret is to seek it out. Love your ways to bring joy into your life!
ReplyDeleteGlad you have found what works for you. Often times it isn't the identifying of what we need, but the implementing that is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteSo true! I now keep my list right at my bedside and 'demand' that I do one or more of these things if I am feeling low.
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