THE ART OF OBSERVING

Sometimes you find joy in the little things. A ring my grandmother wore and received from her father, my great-grandfather, made of silver and with a jade stone, has been a treasured keepsake and a ring I wear every day. Years ago, I looked down at my hand and realized I wasn’t wearing it and I couldn’t remember where I had set it down. Years later (I know!), while cleaning out a dark cupboard of old towels, I found it, tucked in between. It had slid off as I was putting away laundry.

Recently, the silver band cracked and broke and couldn’t be worn. I took the ring to Ben Bridge jewelers at the mall, but they sent me to a jewelry repair kiosk at the other end of the main thoroughfare. “He knows silver and gold,” the jewelry store employee promised.

True to her word, I dropped the ring off for repair and when I picked it up, the repair couldn’t even be seen. That was a week ago and not a day goes by that I don’t look down at my hand and thrill a little bit that this ring, handmade in the 1940s, is still being worn and treasured. I think I gushed multiple times to the jewelry repair person that the ring was priceless, one of a kind.

I’m also sure they’ve heard that so many times before.

But in this case, it’s true. It’s a treasured ring, even with its flaws and repairs. It’s a piece of my great-grandfather, who died the year before I was born, and a big piece of my grandmother, who was a beloved person in my life. Both she and my Grandpa supported me, loved me, and prayed for me every single night. Wearing this ring means I’m wearing that love. I’m so happy to have it back on my hand where it belongs.

Things bringing me joy:

The book EJACULATE RESPONSIBLY by Gabrielle Blair

Lizzo and Lizzo

This dog.

And this dog.

Joy in the little things is sustaining me. The end of this year is like driving 75 mph in a school zone or something. It feels like we’re just all racing to keep up and then having to focus and move so carefully through the world.

I keep giving advice to my creative clients to find the joy wherever they can, however they can. I’m taking my own advice. I dance a little jig when I find that yes, indeed, there is another pack of double-stuf Oreos in the pantry. I go out after dark and stare up at the stars as much as I can. I sit in the sunny spots in my living room, like a cat, soaking up the warmth. I thrill each time I turn on my gas fireplace in order to give the room I’m going to read that extra cozy layer of heat. I laugh WITH my dog as he wakes from a deep sleep and his big mushy face is all indented (no really, I’m laughing at him and he knows it!).

I cannot wait for the holiday lights to go up. I can’t wait to turn on all of my season-specific playlists and alas, am already running out of hiding places for Christmas gifts for my husband. And I cannot wait for New Year’s this year, celebrating with friends.

I’m a little bit wound up to plan my 2023 and have already broken out the highlighters, multi-colored sticky notes (hello, Kanban boards!), and find myself starting my end of the year planning a bit earlier than usual. Call it the Covid factor. I keep saying (to myself mostly) that the new year is going to be better. I predicted that 2022 was going to bring good things, but it was going to take three times as long to get those things done. For 2023, I think we’re going to break through. I have no logical reasoning for this, but my own gut instinct, so take that with a big disclaimer.

But I know that we’re still in the middle of a protracted and long season of political fights for the future of our country. The recent election just made that very clear. So many communities do not have good feelings about 2023. I stand with them: trans rights are human rights, LBGTQIA rights are human rights, bodily autonomy is a human right, and book banning is always an assault on democracy. Lots of work to be done in 2023.

Keep finding the joy.

I hope you too find the little joys to sustain you during these stressful days.