Simple Pleasures

Dear friends,

I like to think of myself as a mindful person. 

But sometimes I need to be REminded to pay attention to the little things, the simple pleasures in life.

One reminder came in the form of a video clip by retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, as he recommended tossing our lifetime bucket lists, and instead filling our buckets with small daily joys. You can watch here. (I still have my "big" bucket list, too.)

Yesterday as I was just starting to emerge from several days of being sick in bed, I stopped to think of the many things that had given me pleasure recently. I thought of more this morning. I'm filling my bucket with happy moments and memories:

• My 12 year old son took such tender care of me: fixing food for me, tucking me in, bringing me medicine, checking on how I was doing, and urging me to get more rest - even when he wasn't feeling well himself. I often remind him, as I drop him off at the bus stop, to have an amazing day filled with compassion and joy, and he sure showed that to me in his actions at home.

• My 10 year old daughter, who was also sick, brought me food and a get well card, and gave me plenty of "big squeezy hugs." After missing a couple of days last week, we started up home schooling again yesterday and managed to chunk away several good library books and work on multiplication drills. And I think we laughed most of the time. She has such an imagination and sense of humor! We had a delightful time looking at silly videos she made a few years ago.

• I was driving around with two of my teenagers yesterday and loved hearing them sing "Yellow Brick Road" in the van. It's so catchy! I looked up the lyrics and I'm amused to see they are about enjoying the simple life instead of chasing fame and high society. A few lines?

So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough 

Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny black toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road.

• My daily "plough" of duty is the kitchen. I am relieved to see an orderly pile of rinsed dishes in the sink after I run yet another dishwasher load. (This is not a job I want to share. I like loading.) It's a fresh feeling of wellness to be up to doing at least some of my nightly kitchen clean up again. I also tidied up my van while waiting at the high school for my son teen to finish an ROTC color guard event.

• Eating fresh blackberries, what was left after my kids got a hold of them, capped off my evening as I tidied up the kitchen. I had to miss my weekly Bible study last night (didn't want to share germs by coughing on everyone!) but since I'd signed up to bring some of the snacks, I stopped by at the grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit to drop off. I bought an extra tub of the berries for home since my kids love them. I'm glad to make them happy with wholesome nourishment.

• Though I missed the Bible study last night, I can still enjoy this week's lesson from our featured book, Becoming: Identity, compiled by Shannon Basso. Not only is this inspirational journal profound, it is also visually gorgeous. Somebody appreciates simple beauties. I also love how my friends in the group are so supportive and affirming. I commented to them last week how God has met some of my needs through them in ways I hadn't expected.

• My young adult son, who started college two weeks ago, keeps my brain active by discussing current events and life philosophy with me. He's a deep thinker and really stretches me. 

• I caught up on my financial record keeping last night. I've been using Mint which is nice because it downloads bank transactions and two people can access it from their own computers. But it is hard to compare budget vs. actual on it, and the iPhone app often has a several day delay on transactions. Earlier this month I downloaded the GoodBudget app which I love. Though it doesn't import from the bank, it's still really easy to enter the information and it gives me a quick visual on how much I have left to spend in the several categories of expenses that I personally pay. I love little things that make my life more efficient AND more effective. And I love sharing useful information with you. Read more here: GoodBudget. (I use the free version, but there are more goodies and mult-device synching with a paid subscription.) These are several of my favorite phone apps.

• My clothes felt so soft as I finally folded them - a big pile that had been shoved into a basket. My blankets, with which I have held close communion since last Thursday, have also been so comfortable. The sense of touch is a gift, too. My daughter must have snapped this picture of me, as I found it on my phone this morning.

• I step outside and see that Thad planted my seven pansy plants for me! They had been sitting outside in pots getting blown over. (Yes, this is Florida. No blizzard here, thank God, but a good soaking rain storm or two!) He also took the kids to youth group and brought groceries twice when I couldn't get out to shop.

• As I walk through the front hallway, I see the flower poster I put up this month after I took down the Christmas decorations. It was a serendipity: I found it tucked behind the tall antique cabinet in my hallway. (I don't know where we got it, but you can find it here.) I remembered the remains of an large IKEA poster frame that was in my closet. The outer frame had been broken and discarded, but I still had the hard plastic cover and the cardboard backing with mounting hardware on it. Hmm. Three bright pink and orange clips attached the three layers, and up it went. Simple solutions are good enough for me. Cheers! 

There's more I could write about - but that's just a small taste of my simple pleasures.

What about you?

Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com