Hello Gold Star Revolution Squad, and happy Tuesday! For this post, I thought I would mix things up a bit and make my presentation more visual than usual. And I thought that joy would be a totally fun topic to explore visually, right??
We absolutely deserve a gold star any time that we feel joyful! And experiencing joy will without a doubt put us into the mood to bring joy to others by giving out some gold stars!
"The trick is not how much pain you feel but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live, excuses, excuses, excuses.
— Erica Jong
What are the things in my life that bring me joy? My top 2 are of course my husband Tom and my cat Tiki! They will always be at the top of my list!!
It is not always easy to capture them in a photo together at the same time, but here is one that I took last year on their birthday (yes, we decided to make Tiki's birthday the same day as Tom's since we don't know when it really is and since most kittens are born during the summer, which is when Tom's B-day is):
This painting by my favorite local artist Keith Norval ALWAYS makes me smile! I keep it on the fireplace mantel in our living room, so I get to see it a lot. I am a sucker for all things cute!!!
The city of New Orleans brings me tremendous joy! It is one of my favorite places in the world. The city has a palpable personality that is unlike any other city I have ever been to. I bought this sign as a gift for myself when I celebrated my most recent milestone birthday there.
On that same trip to New Orleans, Tom took this fab photo of me that fits right in with the theme of this post:
I have adored Cookie Monster ever since I was a child! I absolutely love his exuberance and his passion for cookies!!! The pic below has been my profile photo on Facebook for over a decade now. I refuse to change it even though several people have told me that I need a more professional picture!
Cookie Monster also makes several appearances around my home. I got them all together for this shot:
I also have a Cookie Monster blanket, but I couldn't find an easy way to take an attractive picture of it, ha ha!
Thinking about the time I met the author Elizabeth Gilbert when she spoke at an event in Raleigh back in the fall of 2019 brings me a ton of joy:
I absolutely love Liz's books and her infectious energy. She is such an amazing woman!
Any Todd Snider song is guaranteed to make me joyful, even when the song isn't a particularly upbeat or happy one. I'm sure that almost all of you have no idea who Todd Snider is, but I am a huge fan of his music. He is one of the most clever lyricists that I have ever encountered!
I was lucky enough to meet Todd Snider back in February 2020 (which seems like a lifetime ago!) when Tom and I saw him play at the historic Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC right before the pandemic hit the US. I randomly ran into Todd in town a couple of hours before the show started. My only regret is that I didn't get a selfie with him!
Strangely enough, I also got to hold a lamb back on that same trip to Saxapahaw when we saw Todd Snider. Holding a baby sheep was not on my radar at all, but it was SUCH an added bonus to the trip. A truly unexpected and joyous surprise!
I have previously mentioned that I am a very silly person! So you shouldn’t be surprised that my unicorn horn brings me joy!!! Tom gave it to me as a birthday gift! And, yes, I have worn it out in public on several occasions!
There are actually so many more things that I could put on this list, and recognizing that fact is such an amazing thing! I'm thinking that I may need to revisit this topic in the future and post some more pictures!
But I couldn't end without one last picture. Anyone who knows me well (actually, you might not need to know me very well at all to realize this, ha, ha!) knows that a bottle of wine is ALWAYS guaranteed to bring me joy! Especially if there is some cheese, bread, and/or olives to go along with it!!
So, dear readers, I hope that this post lifted your mood and made you feel joyful for the wonderful things in YOUR life. Now it's your turn! I don't think that you can post a picture in the comments, but I hope you will provide us with a written description of something that brings you joy!