Open-hearted joys 開開心心 60

How on earth we’re more than halfway through October is completely beyond me – it truly feels like just yesterday that I was excitedly planning in summer picnic dinners! The new school term feeling has dissipated now and I’m tinkering away at work, projects and my stack of books with glee. I just love autumn. It’s also felt even more essential, as I had a hospital appointment looming on the horizon and I needed something, anything, to distract me.

There’s a lot to be said for appreciating the smaller, not necessarily finer, details of the everyday mundane. Here’s to another list of petite, open-hearted joys, the moments that’ve brought and woven poetry to my days, this fortnight:

一. Spotting a little fox sipping from a post-thunderstorm puddle on my drive home one evening.

二. My very first cuddles with a friend’s new baby!

三. ACNH evenings, building my ‘new’ island. For my latest project, I settled on slowly taking down Moonacre 5.0 and, controversially, creating Moonacre 1.1 – an elevated design of the first-ever island I ever made! I’ve already penned a post all about how I’m still absorbing the Animal Crossing: New Horizons magic, years after launch and our collective lockdown addiction.

四. Quiet evenings on the sofa with a book and setting my phone to DND mode. (This is kinda an every-week joy, but it’s been a tricky-ish fortnight, so it feels even nicer.)

五. Starting work early – and finishing early – twice a week. Evenings feel so much more full now.

六. Post-gym session showers. Almost better than Everything Showers™.

七. Using my Vinted balance to acquire secondhand Le Guin books!

八. Hand-warming cups of tea. ’Tis the damn season.

九. How it feels when you finally get the hang of a new thing you’ve been learning. A.k.a. me all fortnight in my new job.

十. Glimpsing all of autumn’s changing colours on my commutes. It even feels as though the leaves change between morning and afternoon drives.


What are some small joys from your life lately? And, support me on Ko-Fi to unlock three exclusive bonus posts.

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