10 Simple Pleasures (A Gratitude Practice)
I don’t get much into my spiritual practices on the blog, because hey, it’s not for everyone. I will share, however, that I performed a lil ritual at the very end of last year to usher in some better things in 2023. I sat on our furry sweater rug (furry because it’s a sweater rug, but also because it’s perpetually covered in long ass dog hairs) with my throbbing, swollen sprained ankle propped up beside me, freshly recovered from a bout of Covid, ready to embrace what the new year had to offer. It couldn’t possibly get much worse, right?
So I started listing things that I was ready to let go of in the coming year. For those of you who have not met me in person, you may not know that I’m easygoing to a fault. There’s not much that I hang on to if I don’t have to, because that takes more energy than I can muster. But the things that I do carry around with me, the negative, sticky feelings, are buried deep. There’s power in naming things, so as I crafted my list I paid careful attention to the words that came up. Crippling anxiety. Self doubt. Fear of success.
I made my sister in law do this activity with me. I don’t know which words she chose. You might even take some time to reflect on which words come up for you, when you imagine yourself letting go of things that no longer serve you. There are a seemingly infinite number of flaws, insecurities, and bad habits, but the funny thing is that we all appear to share most of them.
With our words down on paper, we ripped them up and threw them into the fire blazing at our side. We watched the paper catch fire, shrivel up, and burn. While it would have been cathartic to see them turned to ash, the remnants of them (with parts of our words still visible) floated down to the bottom of the logs and simply hung out. As if something was telling us, “nice try”.
Well it was a nice try. Because although I wasn’t able to fully release my deep seated feelings of anxiety and self doubt, I had put the intention out there that I was ready to move on from them. It’s a shame that life isn’t more like the movies, where a small ritual will instantly banish all of the character’s flaws, but there’s a special kind of magic in the slow progression of real life. Of trudging through our days trying to be just a little bit better than we were yesterday, and looking back a year later to see just how far we’ve really come.
All of this to say, my intention for 2023 was to live life more mindfully. To stop paying so much attention to the shitty things and focus a bit more on those silly, happy things that make us unclench our jaws and let out the breath we’ve been holding, even if it’s just for a small moment. What I’m about to share is a tangible, repeatable practice I’ve begun to make life feel more enjoyable.
I do this on days when I’m feeling naturally grateful, and I also force myself to do this on the days where I walk around my house and all I can see is everything that I want to change if we only had money trees growing in the backyard instead of pines. I wander from room to room as I do my chores, or mindlessly pace as I’m taking a break from working, and I notice. I take note of all the wonderful things about my home. Some days I’m grateful to have a roof over my head, and a place to call my own. Others I can gently congratulate myself on the job I did decorating it.
Here’s my list for today, in the hopes that it inspires you to do the same!
How much easier our lives have gotten since we invested in new appliances.
The dozens of birds chirping away in the backyard, that I can finally hear because it was cool enough to shut off the AC and open the windows.
The mirror in our den that I painted white. It adds so much brightness and levity.
New dining chairs that we found on FB Marketplace that finally make our dining room feel whole.
The way the living room looks on a cloudy, rainy day. It feels like the safest, coziest corner of my mind materialized.
Our hardwood floors! I love picturing the old trees they came from, and knowing they’re now adding warmth to our home.
Our trusty kitchen island, where I place my laptop and put on trash tv to keep me company while I chop and cook.
The view from our laundry room window - it’s just trees and open sky.
The big, comfy sectional sofa that tucks me in just right when I’ve had a crappy day.
How the setting sun casts the most perfect light on my reading chair for about ten minutes every day. If I don’t pay attention, I miss it.
You can start with just one or two things. Hell, you don’t even have to make a list. Practice in the tiny moments throughout your day. Be thankful. Please feel free to comment and share what you’re grateful for in your own home!
Until next time,
Nicki
