Creating Joy

The Aesthetics of Joy

One of the best things about the break between semesters is that I get to read. Sometimes, I read the novel I've been dying to read. Other times, I pick up a book I started, determined to get to the end -- finally!

Or perhaps I simply pick up the closest book.

In this case, that's exactly what I did. Of course, the closest book also happened to be closest because when it came in the mail the other day, I put it on top of my reading pile. Joyful, by designer Ingrid Fetell Lee looked like the perfect pre-Christmas read.

In Joyful, Lee examines how to create joy in our surroundings, effectively using external joy to spark its internal counterpart.
Lest you think this is a frivolous read about decorating your house, or, worse yet, an ode to materialism, let me tell you that it's not. Its subtitle: "The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness," got me thinking before I even opened the cover (which is another story -- see below), leading me to create my own joy list: small things that bring me joy.

I decided that this was too big a job for a single sheet of paper, and I wanted it to be an ongoing project. Luckily, as a notebook aficionado (occupational hazard), I typically have several blank notebooks sitting around waiting for me to assign them a purpose. I started my list before I started the book and after finishing Chapter 1, I was even more impressed by the inadvertent astuteness of my choice.

I'm only two chapters in, but this is the kind of non-fiction book that calls out to me the same way a novel does. I have cookies to bake and gifts to wrap and I need to convince myself to do these things instead of curling up with the book whose cover, under its dust jacket, looks like a colorful festival of confetti.

Which brings me to my joy list. Here are a few of my choices so far:

• Just-right notebooks.
• Pens that write just right.

  

  Not an exact match for
  my notebook,
  but pretty close.
  (target.com)

• A beautiful piece of prose. 
• Seashells, flip flops and any reminder of the beach (including sand in the bottom of a tote bag).
• My daughter's laughter.
• Judgment-free zones.
• Writing.
• A sense of unhurriedness.

The purpose of my list is to focus on ordinary, small things. Of course I'm grateful for my family, my faith, friends who love me in spite of my flaws, my home, the reason for the season....

But what are the little things that have a big payoff? The things that can make me smile in the midst of a day that's gray or frustrating or exhausting or overwhelming?

  

In this beautiful, hectic, list-checking time of year, what brings you joy?