Finding the Joylets
Today I am grateful for people's hearty good humor to get us through a harsh winter. I am also grateful for my sisters and brothers, all seven and five of them respectively. I appreciate that we all keep in touch, although to varying degrees.
Nothing against my brothers, but I tend to stay in better touch with my sisters. My sister Aileen is a writer too. We share our work and words. (She's not the only writing sister either. You guys know who you are.) Check out Aileen's blog "Poetic License: Poetry and Commentary on Current Events" here. She is masterful at using words and also sometimes creating new ones. In a recent email exchange, the word "joylet" came to be. She defines it as little bits of joy, baby joys; generally unexpected. Examples-finding a forgotten yummy hard candy in my purse, a baby smiling at me in the grocery store. I love the word and the definition. It is the essence of what gratitude practice is about. Finding the joylets. Thanks Aileen!
When I am paying attention, examples of joylets abound. The jingle of our dog Oliver's collar. The first smell of the first cup of coffee of the day. The sound of my son's laughter. A genuine smile from someone I pass in the hall at school. The light changing at dawn and dusk. The smell of bacon. A song I love coming on the radio in the car. A stronger sun in February than January.
You get the idea. Proceed with caution however: noticing joylets can make a person joyful. If you want to improve your perception of self and surrounding world, find the joylets in each day. If you want to be mired in muck and low-grade misery, close your eyes to the joylets.
You get to pick. Which will it be? Open to joy or closed to joy?
Nothing against my brothers, but I tend to stay in better touch with my sisters. My sister Aileen is a writer too. We share our work and words. (She's not the only writing sister either. You guys know who you are.) Check out Aileen's blog "Poetic License: Poetry and Commentary on Current Events" here. She is masterful at using words and also sometimes creating new ones. In a recent email exchange, the word "joylet" came to be. She defines it as little bits of joy, baby joys; generally unexpected. Examples-finding a forgotten yummy hard candy in my purse, a baby smiling at me in the grocery store. I love the word and the definition. It is the essence of what gratitude practice is about. Finding the joylets. Thanks Aileen!
When I am paying attention, examples of joylets abound. The jingle of our dog Oliver's collar. The first smell of the first cup of coffee of the day. The sound of my son's laughter. A genuine smile from someone I pass in the hall at school. The light changing at dawn and dusk. The smell of bacon. A song I love coming on the radio in the car. A stronger sun in February than January.
You get the idea. Proceed with caution however: noticing joylets can make a person joyful. If you want to improve your perception of self and surrounding world, find the joylets in each day. If you want to be mired in muck and low-grade misery, close your eyes to the joylets.
You get to pick. Which will it be? Open to joy or closed to joy?
Comments
Post a Comment