Good morning Jane, what a lovely joyful Substack to kick off the day! Thank you. And thank you for supporting rescue dogs. What brings me joy? The woods are blanketed with fallen leaves, and while the glory of fall colors has turned a shade of copper (also lovely), now I can see the birds on the bare tree limbs — Hawks, northern flickers, a trio of pileated woodpeckers, and even the murmuration of starlings brings me awe. I'm grateful for my husband and dog, long walks at the arboretum, lifetime friends, and new friends. I'm at the place where I'm okay staying put to paint, draw, and write. I'm learning how to manage our trucking agency. At 62, there is only one way to go — forward and onward. Okay, that's two, but who's counting? ❤️ Have a beautiful day.
Oh, Maureen, this is beautiful. I relate to almost everything you wrote with the exception of the husband and trucking agency!! And, yes, it's marvelous to see the birds so clearly now in all their splendor! Much of what you're describing sounds like Michigan. Where do you live? Enjoy your day!
Haha, that's funny, the wife and trucking. My younger self never envisioned this life. My best friends call me a chameleon. Yes, much like Michigan here, my sister-in-law lives just north of Detroit and we compare birds and garden updates. I'm in western Kentucky. Hugs.
What brings me joy? Listening to an exuberant pack of young coyotes sing in the day as the clouds blush pink at sunrise. Looking out at night and seeing Orion, my favorite constellation, rising in a dark sky littered by stars. Greeting the bleached clumps of native bunch grasses by name--hello, blue grama! good morning, Indian rice grass!--as I walk each morning at dawn. Laughing out loud at a funny story my brother tells me in one of our catching-up phone calls. Simply "waking up still breathing," as my late husband used to say, and knowing I have another moment in this life.
Jane, your piece from George Saunders reminds me of these words from Ram Dass, "We are all just walking each other home." So we are and the more we know and understand that, the greater is our joy.
I'm mildly desperate to have chats that bring out a shared caring. B/c most conversations are just exhausting small talk, or an off & on fight, or a struggle to just stay polite. Instead of dialogue being a shared sacred space it's just hard toil. I applaud how these Substack friends responded so sincerely on how they'd found joy.
So much gratitude to you, Jane!! You culminates works of brilliant authors and their facets of light. It's the gem you place in the world! Thank you, thank you and thank you. Love to you!!
The past few days, I’ve found joy in traipsing through fields and forest with my exuberant pup Jeff in search of frost flowers. I take pictures of the ones that Jeff doesn’t eat first.
I find joy in buying things i need and like to have, and believing that i can prevent my fears from ruining my life (i've registered for a coding class to learn how to code with Python. Seeing a string of codes always scared the hell out of me. Then a few weeks ago, i told myself: "now that you can use your hands for drawing and painting, and you excel at memorizing materials, then why don't you use these two for learning coding??".
P. S.: One of my goals for this year and next year is to have no regrets. Therefore, i wanna do whatever i dream of doing, buying whatever i love to have and visiting places i've always wanted to go.
I love this, Negar! I find joy in that, as well. And I've periodically toyed with taking such a class for the same reason. I'm so impressed you've done so!! Brava!
Thank you. Whenever i wanna do sth but don't, i start blaming myself for not doing that (i wish i could stop doing that completely), and after that i get angry at myself (i wish i could stop that completely as well, but it's damn hard because i haven't learned how to control it yet).
Good morning Jane, what a lovely joyful Substack to kick off the day! Thank you. And thank you for supporting rescue dogs. What brings me joy? The woods are blanketed with fallen leaves, and while the glory of fall colors has turned a shade of copper (also lovely), now I can see the birds on the bare tree limbs — Hawks, northern flickers, a trio of pileated woodpeckers, and even the murmuration of starlings brings me awe. I'm grateful for my husband and dog, long walks at the arboretum, lifetime friends, and new friends. I'm at the place where I'm okay staying put to paint, draw, and write. I'm learning how to manage our trucking agency. At 62, there is only one way to go — forward and onward. Okay, that's two, but who's counting? ❤️ Have a beautiful day.
Oh, Maureen, this is beautiful. I relate to almost everything you wrote with the exception of the husband and trucking agency!! And, yes, it's marvelous to see the birds so clearly now in all their splendor! Much of what you're describing sounds like Michigan. Where do you live? Enjoy your day!
Haha, that's funny, the wife and trucking. My younger self never envisioned this life. My best friends call me a chameleon. Yes, much like Michigan here, my sister-in-law lives just north of Detroit and we compare birds and garden updates. I'm in western Kentucky. Hugs.
Thank you for sharing! It was pleasant to read your comment.
I agree! It brought me joy!!
Hi Angie! I'm glad it resonated. Have a great day!
What brings me joy? Listening to an exuberant pack of young coyotes sing in the day as the clouds blush pink at sunrise. Looking out at night and seeing Orion, my favorite constellation, rising in a dark sky littered by stars. Greeting the bleached clumps of native bunch grasses by name--hello, blue grama! good morning, Indian rice grass!--as I walk each morning at dawn. Laughing out loud at a funny story my brother tells me in one of our catching-up phone calls. Simply "waking up still breathing," as my late husband used to say, and knowing I have another moment in this life.
Oh, Susan, how beautiful. Reading this brought me joy! Thank you!
Jane, your piece from George Saunders reminds me of these words from Ram Dass, "We are all just walking each other home." So we are and the more we know and understand that, the greater is our joy.
Absolutely!
P.S. I find joy reading light fiction that shows the struggle & shared joy between characters.
Yes, me, too!
I'm mildly desperate to have chats that bring out a shared caring. B/c most conversations are just exhausting small talk, or an off & on fight, or a struggle to just stay polite. Instead of dialogue being a shared sacred space it's just hard toil. I applaud how these Substack friends responded so sincerely on how they'd found joy.
A shared sacred space. That's so beautiful! I hope we all find as much, as soon! Thanks for your kind words!
This is wonderful, distilled wisdom, and joy from your amazing interviews! Thank you.
Thanks so much, Jeffrey! I'm glad you enjoyed them!
Thank you for this collection of joy! Love having it as a resource.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Amy!
So much gratitude to you, Jane!! You culminates works of brilliant authors and their facets of light. It's the gem you place in the world! Thank you, thank you and thank you. Love to you!!
Ooooh, thanks so much, Kyomi! And thank you for supporting Beyond! I'm grateful!
The past few days, I’ve found joy in traipsing through fields and forest with my exuberant pup Jeff in search of frost flowers. I take pictures of the ones that Jeff doesn’t eat first.
This made me laugh out loud. I love Jeff! He sounds perfectly joyful!!
I find joy in buying things i need and like to have, and believing that i can prevent my fears from ruining my life (i've registered for a coding class to learn how to code with Python. Seeing a string of codes always scared the hell out of me. Then a few weeks ago, i told myself: "now that you can use your hands for drawing and painting, and you excel at memorizing materials, then why don't you use these two for learning coding??".
P. S.: One of my goals for this year and next year is to have no regrets. Therefore, i wanna do whatever i dream of doing, buying whatever i love to have and visiting places i've always wanted to go.
I love this, Negar! I find joy in that, as well. And I've periodically toyed with taking such a class for the same reason. I'm so impressed you've done so!! Brava!
Thank you. Whenever i wanna do sth but don't, i start blaming myself for not doing that (i wish i could stop doing that completely), and after that i get angry at myself (i wish i could stop that completely as well, but it's damn hard because i haven't learned how to control it yet).