What do you find joy in, without fail, no matter what?
- my nieces and nephews
- phone calls from my friends on their way home from work [Sorry, Oprah. But at least they’re not texting.]
- movie afternoons with my parents or family
- any time a friend walks through my door, for any reason
- the videos my friend Shannon sends me of her family
- getting lost in good music that feels like prayer
- any amount I am able to sing
- a book that makes me lose all sense of time and space
- getting a good back and forth conversation going on Twitter when you can feel the other person laughing along with you, even over a great distance
- emails and tweets and Facebook messages
- hearing from a friend about their good fortune and getting to be a part of it with them
- when a red Netflix envelope shows up in my mailbox
- being useful
- my Wall of Doodles
- videos of Elias
- my godchildren
- Riley curling up next to me and sighing
- ok, pretty much any of Riley’s antics
- an unexpected card in the mail
- making Susie laugh until she cries [crazy girl thinks I’m funny]
- being the one someone trusts enough to confide in
- watching Alias
- unexpected lunch dates
- Kyra Sedgwick’s character in Something To Talk About
- hearing stories about my friends’ kids [there are some doozies]
- taking an easy breath
- writing a good story
- having the chance to encourage someone and watch them start to believe in themselves
- looking at photos – even of people I don’t know, whose stories I have to imagine
- looking around my house at the hand-me-downs from people I love
- comments from readers :)
- seeing pure joy in someone else
- even though they usually causes me pain, I love the sound of a good storm … and uncontrollable laughter
- being able to help, whether it’s needed or not
- watching someone walk through the mire and come out strong
- babies
- watching Hannah and Eliana dance
- the crazy expressions that flit across Jonboy’s and Tyler’s faces
- memories I think of all the time… like the rush of wind in my face when riding in a boat, floating on a raft in the water, the sound of cicadas in my parent’s backyard, late night movie marathons with Thomas and Anna, seeing the body prints where deer slept in the snow, the doorknobs that looked like diamonds on Grandma Flo’s doors, Grandma Rita’s jewelry box, hearing the rain come down on the tin roof over the patio on the farm, having picnics under the weeping willow trees, Grandma Colwell’s porch swing, having bonfires to roast s’mores, the smell of dewy Spring grass and the stillness of the lake on a cool crisp morning, Grandpa playing Redwing on the piano, the feel of Mom’s long fingernails when she’d run them over my cheeks while cuddling before bed, Dad calling me baby doll, the list goes on and on…