Six years ago, when I began Diary of a Mindful Nature Lover, I wanted to choose 52 Tiny Pleasures, one for each week of the coming year, sort of as intentions. As it turned out, I recorded only about 20 tiny pleasures and then later 10 more. Looking back, as we do this time of year, I find that I have done almost all of them and that some have become everyday gifts. I feel good about this.
So, I'm trying again. This time I'm going to try to reach 52 and make more good things a way of life. It's so wonderful to begin a new year with confidence.
So, here is the beginning of a "could-do" list of hopes for this year (with more to come later), for all of us:
1. Enjoy alone time.
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Making Footprints |
3. Take an overnight trip, someplace not too far.
4. Take a day trip. Seek out a new view. Picnic, hike, take photos.
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| Blue Ridge Mountains |
5. Be a spectator. Go to a sporting event, band concert, local playhouse. Admire the talent it takes to achieve success. Have fun.
6. Pick a room or corner in your home. Rearrange. Edit. Make beautiful.
9. Visit a craft shop or farmer's market and buy something small but lovely, for yourself or someone else. Or make something instead.
24. Keep stacks of books to read from a second-hand store. Everyone in Durham takes their used books to the Rescue Mission re-store. In a university town that's a lot of donations. I can keep a couple of shelves filled with anticipated hours of pleasure for pennies.
25. Sign up for a class--yoga, pottery, sailing, writing, painting, astronomy, the choices are endless. Just signing up is a tiny pleasure. Or maybe it's a big step. A cooking class is one of my dreams.
7. Plan a vacation. Maybe an historic site.
8. Cook a simple meal for friends. Serve them. Provide an occasion for good conversation.
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| Pasta and Scallops |
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| Market, Beaufort, NC |
10. Swim. Stretch. Bike. Continue Yoga. Move. Help your body age well.
11. Make the most of memories. Reminisce, share, scrapbook, preserve. Have fun with photos.
12. Vary the daily routine, see different neighborhoods, check out the downtown growth, shop somewhere different. Start conversations along the way, make friendly comments, engage people.
13. Brighten a room. Buy new pillows, throws or towels. Add art. Don't spend much money. Think comfort.
14. Listen carefully when someone speaks. Give full attention. Nothing is more rewarding.
15. Go to a bakery, tea shoppe, coffee or wine bar. Skip the laptop. Go alone and be open to chatting. Or go with someone. Do both.
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| Neighborhood Grill |
16. Visit the library. Read good books. Skip the daily news.
17. Light candles, set out soaps, bring home cut flowers. Make a fragrant home.
18. Listen to music; for me, while I'm cooking. Even more important, while I'm cleaning.
19. Don't begrudge. What we decide to give, give freely. There are ways that waiting time--in line, in traffic, at an office, at the bedside--can become time for something entirely good.
20. Create something. Journal more. Finish the knitting project. Make candles and give them away. Collage, paint, build, bake, clear land, cook. Creating is never a waste.
21. Enjoy new movies, new books, new friends.
22. Place a bouquet of fresh flowers on the table, from the grocery store, garden, roadside or farmer's market. Give a second bouquet to a friend or a church member or anyone who needs a sign of caring.
23. Enjoy old movies, old books, old friends. Watching an old movie with old friends--now that Tiny Pleasure reaches perfection.
24. Keep stacks of books to read from a second-hand store. Everyone in Durham takes their used books to the Rescue Mission re-store. In a university town that's a lot of donations. I can keep a couple of shelves filled with anticipated hours of pleasure for pennies.
25. Sign up for a class--yoga, pottery, sailing, writing, painting, astronomy, the choices are endless. Just signing up is a tiny pleasure. Or maybe it's a big step. A cooking class is one of my dreams.
27. Keep a commonplace book. This is an old English art that some today have turned into scrapbooking. The British Museum has a collection beginning in the sixteenth century. Mine is a simple affair of cut and paste. The poet John Milton published his. Imagine seeing the ordinary insights and interests of the author of Paradise Lost!
28. Turn inward. Journal, think, meditate, walk. Maybe the best way is to be outdoors. Here's a quote from the man known as the Father of the National Parks:
"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till
sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
John Muir (1838-1914)
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