contemplating joy

i recently had a conversation with a friend about joy. and a life filled with joy is crucial to a person's emotional, spiritual and physical well being. idea is not huge or earth shattering. everyone should live a joyous life, but still it is something some of us struggle with.

so the question was raised how do you find happiness? how do you plant the seeds of hope and get prosperity and fortune to blossom? how do you start to possess the things you desire or that which you delight in? what brings joy and happiness into your life?

to answer this question for myself, i started to think about made me happy, brought a smile to my face, what did i rejoiced in. a mental list started to bubble up in my mind, images and events made me smile to think about them. Simply the action of thinking about them, gave me pause and made me realize there is so much potential in the world and in myself.

so here we are the second week of the year, thinking about the joys of life and how to embrace them. I ask you, what my friend asked me, what brings you happiness? what brings you joy? what does it look like in your life?

this is what it looks like in mine.

-a long walk in the woods with my dog
-tucking my son into bed and he says to me, "I love you Momma."
-the sunlight creeping through the bedroom window and across my face in the morning
-sitting on the screen porch at the end of the day drinking a glass of wine in the dark listening to the creek, the owl and and the wind in the trees
-thunderstorms and pouring rain in the summer with the windows open
-sitting on the beach at twilight
-how it felt to catch my first trout and then let it go
-driving down the highway with the radio blasting and the windows down
-nightfires
-the stillness of the snow covered mountains
-memories of marching and playing brass all summer long
-sewing costumes for theatre (the bigger the better)
-leonidas belgian chocolates
-tackling a new recipe and having it come out right the first time
-seeing duran duran live- any time
-starting a new piece of artwork
-finishing a new piece of artwork
-browsing the library for the next book to read
-watching a favorite film that i know all the words to, like dune, highlander, blue velvet or rocky horror
-traveling to places i have never been to before
- holding my child's hand as we cross the street
-a good cup of coffee
-an un-opened jar of gel medium
-new york
-vermont
-montreal
-art museums
-listening to tori, kate, sarah or annie
-crisp clean sheets right out of the dryer
-ben and jerry's creme brule
-pims
-kermit the frog
-x files
-ferry rides
-the wind in my hair
-sunsets
-peppermint
-foxglove
-beets
-teaching
-dancing
-having a beer with good friends
-your smile