Open-hearted joys 開開心心 90
Happy Friday, my loves!
I’ve spent much of this week down and out with a cold. After begging colleagues that came in coughing and spluttering to please stay home so that it wouldn’t spread, I caught everybody’s illness 12 hours before flying to Verona for our long-awaited early anniversary celebration trip. It was grim. Masked up and with a bag full of meds, we did thankfully have a wonderful weekend away and it was just perfect to spend three whole days together amidst our busy schedules recently. As such, many of this week’s joys come from seven days caged at home, appreciating the small things that make my life.
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. Glimpsing first snow with my fiancé, dancing ‘round the kitchen in our PJs.
二. A magical long weekend in (fair) Verona, and our first trip away in five months. Verona is possibly one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited!
三. How soothing a spoonful of congee is while you’re breaking a fever and feeling sick.
四. The bleary-eyed post-nap feeling mid-fever. Damn it was a good sleep. Also, the grace and thoughtfulness of my manager asking me to log off, rest and recover, instead of battle through work feeling obviously unwell.
五. Walking amidst ancient history. It gets me every time.
六. Petting our neighbour’s cat nearly every morning. She’s such a cutie.
七. How grounding it is to watch the flicker of a candle flame for a few minutes. An easy way to connect with nature, even when trapped indoors working from home.
八. Spending an afternoon resetting my space, updating my notebook, getting to Inbox (0) and clearing my work to-do list. Sick days leave me feeling so out of sorts.
九. Jakeman’s honey and lemon lozenges.
十. Finally starting to read The Left Hand of Darkness and it cementing for me that Ursula K. Le Guin really is that author. What a writer!!
