Welcome to my first blog post of 2014 – Happy New Year!
This time last year I decided to inject January with joy.It is so easy to get a bit down at this time of year with the cold and grey weather, the poorly looking bank account, colds and viruses and the constant bombardment of messages telling us to lose weight, exercise more, give up this or have more of that. Don’t get me wrong – I am the biggest fan of better health, self improvement and self-enquiry. But in January 2013 I just decided to focus on joy.
You may think that it’s almost impossible to be joyful in January, but I’d like to challenge you to think differently. The thing is, when we have decided not to drink, spend or overindulge, we are forced to turn inwards to look for joy. It’s pretty easy to feel good when you’ve bought something new or are planning a holiday. Everything feels brighter, shinier and more fun – but of course that feeling doesn’t last long..
Last January, I asked my readers and clients to give me suggestions of how they were going to inject more authentic, wholesome joy into their January and one of them, Isabel, gave me a great idea. She had decided that her and her colleague would write down anything good or happy that had occurred and fill a jar with these small notes. At the end of the year they would open it up and look at all the joyful things that had made up their year and I decided to do the same..
So, last week, a couple of days into the New Year, I sat down and opened all the little messages I had written for myself. The jar wasn’t totally full, but when I tipped the jar up there was still a beautiful pile of brightly coloured notes waiting to be read. I took my time, savouring the memories and feeling grateful to be reminded of things I might have otherwise forgotten.
So, what were the things that gave me joy in 2014?
An afternoon alone in my quiet flat, the sun shining in.
Home-made nori rolls for lunch, bursting with goodness.
Having a lie in and then baking bread with Anders on a Friday morning and feeling as if this was being rich!
A beautiful, appreciative email from a new friend.
The first sight of yellow appearing on the daffodils in my garden.
Sharing food, ideas and inspiration with a wonderful friend.
The smell of fresh cut grass on my way to work
A happy family Easter treasure hunt
Drinking fennel tea in the sand dunes at Camber Sands on a winters day
There are plenty more – but what I realised as I opened more and more, was the simplicity of the things that I was moved enough to make a note of. On the whole, the joy I felt came from the purity of sharing with people I love, my work and being in Nature. Many of them happened within my normal daily life.
So I’m doing it again this year, my jar of joy, but this time there is a new awareness. There is a fresh reminder of where joy springs from. I’m allowing myself to relish this darker, colder time knowing that my notable joys of last year were at my very fingertips, and no doubt still will be in 2014.
Where is your joy?
lornaclanseygairon 