Open-hearted joys 開開心心 68
It’s been a little while since I checked in with a public gratitude list. Since my last ‘Open-hearted joys’ post, I’ve actually leapt back into capturing my life’s small joys in a separate notebook inspired, as always, by Megan, who does the same. Her reasons sounded so logical: she wanted a place to note down only the good things. I’d been keeping mine in bullet journals, sandwiched amongst my rolling dailies, note-taking and other collections, which meant I really to hunt to recall them. The new mini notebook allows me to pick it up on bad days – or any day, really – and instantly be buoyed by the things I’m grateful for, the tiny magic of my everyday.
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. A Sunday evening spent meal-prepping for the week ahead. Although I didn’t have a particularly busy week planned, it was going to be a short one, and preparing nutritious meals from scratch really helped me to stay on track and save time.
二. Pre-holiday excitement!
三. Logging into Substack and seeing that I had a shiny-new paid subscriber! I’m really enjoying this new platform and I feel so grateful to be slowly building a close community.
四. Quiet work afternoons, from home, where I can watch reset routine videos on YouTube in the background. A little extra motivation never hurts.
五. New notebook day! It felt so good to crack open a brand new journal in tandem with stepping into a new month – my birth month at that. Coupled with my new Rupi Kaur Self-Love Writing Prompts deck, I am really enjoying journalling and personal writing.
六. Lots of sweet moments spent with my boyfriend on my birthday trip to Bucharest, which was his gift to me! I feel so incredibly lucky to get to see the world with my best friend by my side, laughing until we cry 99% of the time. I might pen a travel guide soon, since we had a really great time discovering hidden spots.
七. Sister date day. I took a few extra days of annual leave around my birthday, and spent one of them with my sister at a neighbouring small town. We sipped matcha lattes, ate delicious sandwiches, browsed books and had a perfect soul-tonic sort of day.
八. Lighter evenings! They’re finally here! We can run after work again! Soon I’ll be able to enjoy picnic dinners down at the lake! The world is our oyster!
九. When people remember tiny things about you. It’s nice to feel seen.
十. Tending to my lemon tree and watching it grow, slowly.
What are some little joys from your life lately?
