Small Joys

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Recognizing life’s simple joys can be difficult, especially when you have bills to pay, toilets to clean, and toddler tantrums to tame. But here are some tips to make it easier to slow down and “enjoy the little things”: Start a Gratitude Journal I use social media for two main reasons: 1) to stay current on important work-related information and 2) to look up local garage sales and random household items for sale in the local buy/sell groups. Filled with excellent pop culture and music references of the time, brilliantly memorable characters, lots of laughs and a few tears, it really did give me everything that I wanted. I feel that Finlay deserves a special mention, initially a bit of an eye roll character but he really grew on me and he was just completely believable, I feel like I’ve met Finlay a few times in my life. From cosy hygge moments to happy little things that make you smile, hopefully these little joys of life will bring you some comfort on difficult days. You don’t even need to spend anything to enjoy some of these little joys – just take a moment to appreciate them and bring a little bit of quiet happiness to your day. So here it is – our list of 39 of the best little joys in life.

You could even make all of your photos in to a monthly or yearly photo book to remind you of all of the things in life that you’re grateful for. And then on bad days, you have a visual representation of joy to flip through. Write Joyful Quotes in Your Planner Life can feel heavy and overwhelming at times. It takes intentional effort to slow down and notice the good that exists in the world. The book explores life, love, friendship, toxic masculinity, identity, depression, vulnerability, unconditional love and just what it means to have someone fighting for you every step of the way - the family you choose. The author handles some pretty dark topics sensitively and with real empathy, humour and heart. The dialogue is snappy and very funny at times. I loved the 90s and 00s music references.He catches a break. Muddy, a straight white man “holding a pair of binoculars,” approaches Harley, sees that he’s bleeding and stops him from proceeding further. Fortuitously, Muddy is more than just a devoted bird-watcher who happened to walk by. He’s also about to become Harley’s roommate. While the news continues to focus on every sad story and any possible thing that has gone wrong, you can choose to balance your thoughts by looking for the good and creating your own gratitude practice. A gratitude journal is simply a place for you to record different things in your life that you’re grateful for, and the act of writing in the journal forces you to focus on what you do have, instead of what you don’t have. It’s difficult to express just how much I loved this book but the one thing that I constantly tell people is that reading it felt like being enveloped in a hug.

But this post isn’t just reserved for those with chronic illness, mental illness, pain or other disability. Anyone can learn to appreciate the small things a little more, to slow down life, to build in regular simple pleasures into their daily lives. It’s perhaps all the more important in today’s world of ongoing pressure, high stress, constant connectivity and perpetual productivity. How Can You Learn To Dig Small Joys?Abdurraqib’s writing is an antidote to the arched eyebrow of most music journalism. He writes with a sincerity that makes his subjects fallible. He writes as if music matters. For him, it is a metaphor for human suffering, for race and class, for what it is to be American. In one of his interludes dealing with the impact of Marvin Gaye, he writes: “To bear witness to so much death that could easily be your own is to push toward redefining what it is to be a patriot in this country.” I think that, in part, is also what makes the darker sections of the book feel less so. It’s a book that covers some heavy topics — religious homophobia (complete with attempted exorcism), attempted suicide and depression, dementia — but because Harley is so loved by all of his friends, because they all of them so love each other too, it’s like there’s a clear safety net for each and every discussion. Parts of the book were heavy, but they always still felt wrapped in love and care. We met weekly to talk about the book and challenged each other to come up with an increasing number of things we were thankful for and write them down in our gratitude journals. Really, the only issue I had with this one is that the ending felt quite abrupt. Or, not abrupt, so much as a little unfinished? Like there could have been more, but there wouldn’t be. Harley’s story had obviously come to a natural stopping point (although I would not call it a conclusion), but his friends’ hadn’t. They felt, in fact, more as though we were just beginning a plotline. That’s where the abruptness came from.

I strongly considered rounding my 4.5 rating down instead of up because I sorely missed having an epilogue. I really wanted to see how Harley was doing a couple of years down the road. Having said that, I can probably guess what happens, but I wanted to see it play out. Ultimately, I rounded up instead as this book deserves more than 4 stars. Have you ever noticed that when you are car shopping you suddenly notice a lot of certain types of cars on the road? When you increase your level of awareness of a particular thing, you begin to notice more of it even if it was something that was there all along. This heartwarming, witty, and moving debut is one of the most charming books you'll read this year. Exploring love, friendship, grief, and the bittersweet joy of being young, Small Joys is utterly beautiful.' Louise O'Neill, bestselling author of Idol If Richards knows why this is the case, she doesn’t let on. We spend a lot of time dissecting things in Eva’s head, observing the well-constructed characters around her whose stories are told intimately, but don’t distract from the main plot.Life’s little joys often get pushed to the side in pursuit of a newer car, a better job, or a bigger house.

Small Joys, I just know, is going to prove near impossible to review. In fact, I started this review around 3 weeks before coming to finish it. Mostly, this is because I don’t have the words to even start talking about this book. With the constant barrage of social media and advertising, it’s easy to compare your life to the curated ones you see online. This can cause you to feel unhappy and dissatisfied with what you have because it appears that other people have it all together. But, knowing your ikigai alone is not enough. Simply put, you need an outlet. Ikigai is “purpose in action,” he says. Elvin James Mensah's Small Joys is breathtaking and heartrending, by turns hilarious and devastating and surprising and wild. Mensah's prose makes the intangible deft and tremendous — from the balm of friendship, to the beauty of queerness, and the all-encompassing elixir of community. Tender, thrilling, and honest; Small Joys is a beam of light.' Bryan Washington, author of MemorialIn a 2001 research paper on ikigai, co-author Akihiro Hasegawa, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Toyo Eiwa University, placed the word ikigai as part of everyday Japanese language. It is composed of two words: iki, which means life and gai, whichdescribes value or worth. Now it’s time to create your list of simple joys in life that make you smile. I’d love to hear some of them. Related Reading : 4 Things To Remember When Pacing For Chronic Illness, Fatigue or Pain Small Joy Inspiration However it did kind of bug me that the relationship with Muddy was never defined (but maybe that's my hetero bias of wanting things to be neatly labeled?) Is Muddy Ace? Is he attracted to Harley or does he just love him? Ultimately does it matter?