Open-hearted joys 開開心心 82

Happy Friday, my loves!

I finally found my words again and, simply put, I write because I can’t not. I could easily fill all ten of these points with ‘writing’! I wrote on Christmas Eve, I wrote on Christmas Day, I filled notebook pages with thought fragments that became essays, I even penned something on New Year’s Eve. Not New Year’s Day though, I spent that napping and reading. Surely we were not made to stay up at midnight to watch a big clock change?? All of this to say, I’m very happily welcoming in a fresh month with lots of joys, lots of to-do’s, and oodles of ideas.

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 week:

一. A quiet hour, just before the clock struck midnight, penning a letter to myself to read next New Year’s Eve. An online friend of mine, Megan, has been doing this for some years now and I wanted to take a leaf from her book. The process felt emotional, cathartic and ceremonial all at once. Then, I logged onto Substack and noticed Simon did a similar note to himself. His post is all sorts of magic.

二. Seeing my dog’s excitement as he recognised a (dog) friend at the lake during our walk, when we weren’t on our usual route.

三. The NYE declutter I embarked on (I was avoiding folding laundry). A top-to-tail Christmas takedown, bedroom rearrange, Little Free Library donation, kitchen pantry organisation, phone screenshots declutter and charity bag put-together. Best believe this is not typical of me! Also, I truly recommend mildly regular phone screenshot declutters: move information to where it needs to be, buy the book, send the funnies along, and make that recipe!

四. Setting up my new Kindle Paperwhite. I love new tech.

五. Waking up to a light layer of frost dusting each house like icing sugar. Crisp days like these with palest blue skies feel oh so January, don’t you think?

六. Girls’ night last Sunday spent making our 2025 vision boards, helping each other finish Christmas chocolate – doing the lord’s work, truly – catching up on one another’s festive events, and helping one of them house-hunt. Food for the soul.

七. When you see blue in the skies after days of freezing fog.

八. Picking the first lemon from my lemon tree! I grew her myself!!

九. Family dog walks >>>>

十. A day of candle-making, photo-shooting and website-refreshing ahead of returning back to & Chai on 6 January! Our Lunar New Year collection drops, as well as a full restock of everybody’s favourites. Plus, I’m trying to decide on the perfect vessels to make custom blends for my boyfriend and I’s place when we move in together.


What’s a small joy from your world lately?

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