Finding joy in the little things
Finding joy in the little things in life is so important if we don’t want to spend our lives living for tomorrow rather than today. Joy is my word for 2022 and I’ve found three books that have really helped me to focus on finding joy in the ordinary. I usually whizz through books, but these are ones to savour.
The first I read was The Comfort Book by Matt Haig. I was sent this for Christmas by a very thoughtful friend who hadn’t read it but had a feeling it was just what I needed mid chemo. And he was so very right. It was like slipping into a warm bubble bath dipping into those pages. Not only was it comforting reading little essays and thoughts on all the things that bring Matt Haig comfort but it reminded me as the new year began just how I could find joy in the little things even when the weather was lousy, I was stuck inside and I felt truly more dreadful than I ever had in my life. As I write this the example that springs to mind is Haig writing about the joy of peanut butter on toast. Even at my worst a slice of toast with peanut butter or better still a crumpet made me smile.
Here's another of his little gem’s “Forward momentum is great. But we also need sideways momentum. For instance, I just sat down and ate a pear. I have no idea what the future holds but I am very grateful that I am alive and able to sit on a sofa and eat a pear.”
I felt a bit like that about an orange last night. I’d just had my once daily look through the news headlines which are anxiety inducing at the best of times and then I suggested that mum and I shared the last orange in the fruit bowl and I was so grateful to be safe on that sofa eating a really tasty, refreshing orange.
The book is a lovely reminder not just of the things that bring comfort, the little moments of joy, but also that it’s okay to be you and as he puts it so beautifully, “Happiness is an accident of self-acceptance. It’s the warm breeze you feel when you open the door to who you are.”
The title of the second book is, The Joy of Small Things. I bought this as it summed up exactly what I want and need from this year. The blurb on the inside cover says, “Hannah Jane Parkinson is a specialist in savouring the small pleasure of life. She revels in her fluffy dressing gown (‘like bathing in marshmallow’), finds calm in solo cinema trips, is charmed by the personalities of fonts (‘you’ll never see Comic Sans on a funeral notice’), celebrates pockets and gleefully abandons a book she isn’t enjoying. Parkinson’s everyday exaltations – selected from her immensely successful Guardian column – will utterly delight.”
It has and is utterly delighting me. I pick it up from the coffee table and read a page or two whenever I feel the need to be uplifted. The small things she takes joy in include many of the things that also bring me joy in life.
Clean bedding (mine is in the washing machine as a write and I have fresh sheets and clean pjs to look forward to tonight)
Window seats
Pockets
Autumn leaves
Setting the out-of-office
Good coffee
A Sunday roast
An open fire
The sea
There are things on her list that don’t particularly bring me joy like the sound of sports but that’s okay. That’s the point. Different things bring different people joy. Part of the joy is discovering what it is that does bring you joy!
I know that fresh cut flowers, especially from the garden bring me great joy. Hearing bird song, being out in nature, giving gifts. It’s a long and varied list and I’m going to enjoy exploring and adding to it this year.
The third book that is bringing me great joy and really helping me to find the joy in the little things is, Light Rains Sometimes Fall – A British Year Through Japan’s 72 Seasons by Lev Parikian. I had never come across this author before and only came across the book as it popped up in my suggestions on Amazon. I love trying to get out for a walk every day but I have to admit that it can get a bit monotonous walking the same routes again and again. I do my best to keep my interest up by trying to spot the changes in the world around me and finding the joy in spotting the first snowdrops of spring and hearing the birds start singing again. The author brings the 72 ancient micro seasons to his local patch of London – gardens, streets, park and a cemetery. This looks like 72 short chapters each covering five-ish days beginning on 4th February. I started reading it in late February and I’m really enjoying it. Not only is it helping me to be more observant about the little (and not so little) changes in the weather and nature but I’m loving reading about his experiences. He wrote it during 2020 so in March he experienced, like the rest of us, the instruction to stay at home and those daily walks took on so much more meaning for us all. In fact, for many of us it’s when the habit of a daily walk, just for the sake of a walk, began.
At the end of February he describes the joy of a double rainbow a thing that makes most of us smile when we take the time to look up and spot it. I remember in December forcing myself out of the front door on a day when every bone was aching because of chemo and I got to the top of the street and was rewarded by a stunning double rainbow against a dark, brooding sky. That was a moment of pure joy on a pretty bleak day.
Whether your intention is to find more joy or not this year I heartily encourage you to take a moment to stop and look up, to look for and appreciate the little things that bring us joy in life.
