In preparation for a few stories I hope to get published (no big publishing deal but still....), I have been researching child labour in south Asia and found myself mired in the details of the very cause I feel led to help. It pushed me to feel helpless, angry, and paralysed. It also made me feel guilty for taking my many privileges for granted. In my attempt to be pro-active and put the brakes on this slippery slope, I have started a Joy Journal. It is simple, it was an idea online (Thank you, Ann Voskamp and One Thousand Gifts), and, I think it is working.
Every day I record three things that bring me joy. The online version places parameters around these to keep the participants from getting stuck in the same genre or, perhaps. to get them started moving forward. Today, the suggestions were gifts that I received at 10 AM, 1 PM and 10 PM. The 10 AM one was easy - I got to sleep in until 10 AM! Of course, that is sometimes a symptom of my ingratitude but what a great spin on that, right? Then 1 PM rolled around and I was staring at the most delicious looking omelette that I had ever seen - crafted by my own hands and shared with my significant other, Raouf. My heart still fills with gratitude and my stomach says thank you too.
Two out of three is great and I am actually looking forward to 10 PM and what that might hold - a great movie on Netflix? a good e-book arriving on my kindle, a soft pillow in my cool, air-conditioned home? I just wandered off into the realm of imagination - my inner child summoned me! - and I smiled at something my little granddaughter said a few days ago about dragons that breathe rainbows. So, I am thinking, what would that look like for this 64-year-old kid?
I just might have to blog about that!
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