Two Sundays ago, I was trying to get the gas station car wash to take my card. It wasn’t working, and I was getting frustrated, but then my phone rang. With my phone connected to my car, I looked over at the screen and it had a friend’s name that I hadn’t spoken to since before I left Charleston, so at least two years. She and I were really close at one point, a surf sister who I connected with immediately when we met, and we both were going through separation and divorce together. She actually went to court with me when my divorce was finalized. I love her so much, but we drifted apart. I had moved out to the country, and she later moved out to California. But there her name was, so I was happy to answer that call. She lives in the LA area, as does one of my sisters, and she had seen my sister at a farmer’s market. She found out I was moving and called to catch up and congratulate me. She said she knew I couldn’t stay away from the coast too long. It was great hearing her voice and so nice to feel the love we have for each other again.
Also, I was sitting on our back patio the other day, watching the dogs play. We have a very lush, tropical yard (yay!), and this huge elephant ear plant had a big bloom hiding under the leaves! I didn’t know they flowered. I took a picture and sent it to my plant lady friend since I knew it would give her as much joy as it did me. I’m glad I saw the bloom because when I took a peek last night, it had turned brown and shriveled up.
I love “unexpected” joy and am grateful I get to experience it often!
I occasionally feel something I describe as a bubble of joy. It’s a fierce, expanding, rising sensation in my chest that always comes as an unexpected sensation. It shows up full-blown, enormous, almost lifting me off my feet.
i can’t go looking for it, I can’t bring it about through effort or desire. One moment stands out in memory: Walking down a sidewalk in college lined by maple trees that had all turned brilliant gold with fall colors. That was the first time I used the term “joy bubble” to describe it.
It’s exceedingly rare and doesn’t necessarily come at moments when I might expect it. That’s part of the joy: that it IS unexpected.
My best friend emailed me for my birthday and she is an RCMP officer. I hadn’t talked to her in a while, so that was nice. I am working at a campground and someone had a little wooden mountie on their campsite the next day. I thought it was cute and I didn’t expect to talk to a mountie and then see a mountie also on the same day.
Being with my sister Mary when she passed over. She had ovarian cancer that had metastasized and she was too weak to take chemo. I had witnessed her suffering. She had been to her doctor many times and the ER but no one diagnosed her cancer. When she took her last breath, she was finally at peace. I grieved her death but seeing her finally at peace brought me joy.
I remember my friend’s face after she passed from endometrial cancer–finally at peace. You could see it. So bittersweet, but beautiful to see her at rest. I’m so sorry for your loss, Carol, and relate to what you’re saying.
I remember you talking about your sister passing, Carol Ann. It seems like you shared feeling peaceful about it.
I can imagine it would be a relief to see your sister out of pain and at peace. 🩵🩵🩵
My husband
was giving a guitar lesson
some years ago,
and the student,
a man in his thirties,
took a break out on the veranda
to get some air
and to flex his sore fingers out . . .
soft-spoken he was,
and nothing ever seemed to fluster him.
But he did mention something
when he came back into the house,
and they went on with the lesson.
I came home from work that evening . . .
we had stir fry
and went to bed.
It was an ordinary evening
on an ordinary night.
We had coffee at dawn,
and my husband
went off to his woodworking shop,
while I,
having the day off,
straightened up the kitchen . . .
an ordinary morning
on an ordinary day.
After running a few errands,
I pulled down into the driveway
which edged on a woodland,
and stopped short.
There
I saw a peacock
shining in the sunlight
as if he belonged there . . .
it was like seeing a unicorn in my backyard.
I was stunned,
and filled with a kind of joy,
as if I had suddenly stepped into a magical world,
and might spot a fairy or a wizard at any moment.
Once I had regained my senses,
I backed out,
and came down to the veranda
a different way,
so as not to frighten him,
and stepped out
to see him more clearly.
I had to rub my eyes a few times,
but yes,
I was not deceived . . .
there was indeed
a peacock in my garden,
just beginning to melt slowly
into the trees.
I called my husband at the shop
and told him what I’d seen,
and he said,
as casually as if I was talking about a squirrel,
“Oh,
Thomas was here yesterday
and said he saw a peacock out back.”
And he never thought to go look for himself
or mention it to me. ♥
I had never seen a peacock ‘in the wild’,
dear Michele . . .
it was quite a shock,
and I’m still in disbelief
that my husband
didn’t think to tell me. 🙂
Your phrase caught me and I knew exactly the feeling… “it was like seeing a unicorn in my backyard. I was stunned,
and filled with a kind of joy,
as if I had suddenly stepped into a magical world,
and might spot a fairy or a wizard at any moment.”
This reminded me of those times when It feels as if the veil is so thin that for just a moment, realms are melding.
My son called me the other night and said his future Mother-in-law won an auction for a Villa (5 bedrm, 4 baths) in the Azores and we are all invlited. (My friend Mike and my daughter). It will be for 6 nights Oct 2027. What a surprise!!
I can’t think of a specific moment, but for me, joy is almost always unexpected. I don’t go into situations expecting joy. This may be part of my mental makeup. Low expectations and all that.
But joy does find me. I think it has more to do with me being more neutral and open to whatever the situation has to offer. Bringing what I can and being a participant in whatever it is I am doing, seems to help me, and the situation, be more likely to experience joy. And now that I’m thinking about it, I think it helps to bring some joy with you, instead of waiting for it to happen to you.
I hope you all have a joyful Sunday. There’s a lot going on this crazy world. I’m glad you all are here. 🙏
Thank you all for your kind wishes and blessings for a restful time away.
I experienced joy this a.m. in the form of an email. My friend moved into assisted living and it was a challenging adjustment. She had not answered in 3 months. The reply after that length of time brought me relief and joy.
Right now, and lately. I had no idea how much music would open up to me. It’s become a source of joy and friendship, and a lens through which to interpret life.
This is beautiful, Drea!
How did you start this journey into music. I remember you speaking about singing, and taking voice lessons if I recall correctly.
Did you begin with singing or with listening to music? I would love to hear more about your journey. 💕
Mary, I began with singing. I needed to heal my stomach, and I realized that sound and vocalization would help. I’d always wanted to take voice lessons, so I signed up and have been having a blast! Then, my hand injury made me realize that I can’t take my fingers for granted. Disease and injury can warp their shape. But I have the right shape of hand to get back into piano, another things I’d been wanting to do and waiting for “some day.” So I took the jump and now am learning to play again, and learning composition. Music has opened up to me in a new and revelatory way–totally without me intending it to. Feels like a blessed journey.
It came yesterday during my “Loc Gets Straight to the Point” recording session with Martin. I was able to breeze through those songs. All that practice paid off. Afterward, I felt productive and peaceful. My bran has been maximized, and the hardest part has passed which is during practice when I came up with more songs to connect dots to reduce time talking during intros and endings.
Fairly often. I love running errands with my husband. We may dread going to Costco then we get there and we’re like two silly children. We love to people watch. We always find a curvy road to downshift on. I can shift into joy easily.
Avril, having things we like to do with our spouse is an intimate feeling. It’s like with Ngoc and me going on our daily walk in the morning and evening.
It was the first time I visited the elders at the housing apartment where I’m volunteering. There was an elder who recognized me. He said that he’d followed me on YouTube since I was on TV for a singing competition in 2019. It’s been seven years, and I am just one among many people around him. Yet, he still remembers me. He had never met me in real life. His kind words lifted my motivation for my path of singing Vietnamese songs, even though it’s not an easy path here in the U.S.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
My Ngoc, being recognized is such a pleasureable feeling. It’s just like with Martin for me with my “Loc Gets Straight to the Point” songwriting business bran.
1:11am 9.20.89 – I gave birth to my son 37 yrs ago.
12 noon 12.15.93 – I gave birth to my daughter
1:09am 5.29.95 – I gave birth to my 2nd daughter
💗💗💗
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I thought I typed a response here yesterday 🤔
Two Sundays ago, I was trying to get the gas station car wash to take my card. It wasn’t working, and I was getting frustrated, but then my phone rang. With my phone connected to my car, I looked over at the screen and it had a friend’s name that I hadn’t spoken to since before I left Charleston, so at least two years. She and I were really close at one point, a surf sister who I connected with immediately when we met, and we both were going through separation and divorce together. She actually went to court with me when my divorce was finalized. I love her so much, but we drifted apart. I had moved out to the country, and she later moved out to California. But there her name was, so I was happy to answer that call. She lives in the LA area, as does one of my sisters, and she had seen my sister at a farmer’s market. She found out I was moving and called to catch up and congratulate me. She said she knew I couldn’t stay away from the coast too long. It was great hearing her voice and so nice to feel the love we have for each other again.
Also, I was sitting on our back patio the other day, watching the dogs play. We have a very lush, tropical yard (yay!), and this huge elephant ear plant had a big bloom hiding under the leaves! I didn’t know they flowered. I took a picture and sent it to my plant lady friend since I knew it would give her as much joy as it did me. I’m glad I saw the bloom because when I took a peek last night, it had turned brown and shriveled up.
I love “unexpected” joy and am grateful I get to experience it often!
Your stories are passing joy along, SunnyPatti. Thank you.🍁
I unexpectedly experience joy when I meet someone and encounter a deep connection with that person.
I occasionally feel something I describe as a bubble of joy. It’s a fierce, expanding, rising sensation in my chest that always comes as an unexpected sensation. It shows up full-blown, enormous, almost lifting me off my feet.
i can’t go looking for it, I can’t bring it about through effort or desire. One moment stands out in memory: Walking down a sidewalk in college lined by maple trees that had all turned brilliant gold with fall colors. That was the first time I used the term “joy bubble” to describe it.
It’s exceedingly rare and doesn’t necessarily come at moments when I might expect it. That’s part of the joy: that it IS unexpected.
My best friend emailed me for my birthday and she is an RCMP officer. I hadn’t talked to her in a while, so that was nice. I am working at a campground and someone had a little wooden mountie on their campsite the next day. I thought it was cute and I didn’t expect to talk to a mountie and then see a mountie also on the same day.
Being with my sister Mary when she passed over. She had ovarian cancer that had metastasized and she was too weak to take chemo. I had witnessed her suffering. She had been to her doctor many times and the ER but no one diagnosed her cancer. When she took her last breath, she was finally at peace. I grieved her death but seeing her finally at peace brought me joy.
I remember my friend’s face after she passed from endometrial cancer–finally at peace. You could see it. So bittersweet, but beautiful to see her at rest. I’m so sorry for your loss, Carol, and relate to what you’re saying.
Drea, I think we are both feeling the loss of some one we loved deeply but as you said “So bittersweet, but beautiful to see her at rest.”
I remember you talking about your sister passing, Carol Ann. It seems like you shared feeling peaceful about it.
I can imagine it would be a relief to see your sister out of pain and at peace. 🩵🩵🩵
Mary, It truly was a loss but also a blessing.
((( ♥ )))
Thank you, Sparrow
My husband
was giving a guitar lesson
some years ago,
and the student,
a man in his thirties,
took a break out on the veranda
to get some air
and to flex his sore fingers out . . .
soft-spoken he was,
and nothing ever seemed to fluster him.
But he did mention something
when he came back into the house,
and they went on with the lesson.
I came home from work that evening . . .
we had stir fry
and went to bed.
It was an ordinary evening
on an ordinary night.
We had coffee at dawn,
and my husband
went off to his woodworking shop,
while I,
having the day off,
straightened up the kitchen . . .
an ordinary morning
on an ordinary day.
After running a few errands,
I pulled down into the driveway
which edged on a woodland,
and stopped short.
There
I saw a peacock
shining in the sunlight
as if he belonged there . . .
it was like seeing a unicorn in my backyard.
I was stunned,
and filled with a kind of joy,
as if I had suddenly stepped into a magical world,
and might spot a fairy or a wizard at any moment.
Once I had regained my senses,
I backed out,
and came down to the veranda
a different way,
so as not to frighten him,
and stepped out
to see him more clearly.
I had to rub my eyes a few times,
but yes,
I was not deceived . . .
there was indeed
a peacock in my garden,
just beginning to melt slowly
into the trees.
I called my husband at the shop
and told him what I’d seen,
and he said,
as casually as if I was talking about a squirrel,
“Oh,
Thomas was here yesterday
and said he saw a peacock out back.”
And he never thought to go look for himself
or mention it to me. ♥
What a magical surprise, Sparrow!
I am very grateful that I have peacocks in my neighborhood – I know all to well that this is not ‘normal’. They really are majestic and beautiful. 🦚
I had never seen a peacock ‘in the wild’,
dear Michele . . .
it was quite a shock,
and I’m still in disbelief
that my husband
didn’t think to tell me. 🙂
Your phrase caught me and I knew exactly the feeling… “it was like seeing a unicorn in my backyard. I was stunned,
and filled with a kind of joy,
as if I had suddenly stepped into a magical world,
and might spot a fairy or a wizard at any moment.”
This reminded me of those times when It feels as if the veil is so thin that for just a moment, realms are melding.
”This reminded me of those times when It feels as if the veil is so thin that for just a moment, realms are melding”
Yes,
dear Cathie,
that is exactly what it was like. ♥
We all react to things so differently, don’t we, Sparrow.
But, wow, a peacock in your garden! How fabulous!!!🩵
🙂
Such a sweet retelling of an interesting story, dear Sparrow.
. . . yes,
dear Joseph,
especially
since peacocks don’t typically roam
in this part of my world. 🙂
My son called me the other night and said his future Mother-in-law won an auction for a Villa (5 bedrm, 4 baths) in the Azores and we are all invlited. (My friend Mike and my daughter). It will be for 6 nights Oct 2027. What a surprise!!
Oh, wow, Robin Ann! That is exciting!!!
I can’t think of a specific moment, but for me, joy is almost always unexpected. I don’t go into situations expecting joy. This may be part of my mental makeup. Low expectations and all that.
But joy does find me. I think it has more to do with me being more neutral and open to whatever the situation has to offer. Bringing what I can and being a participant in whatever it is I am doing, seems to help me, and the situation, be more likely to experience joy. And now that I’m thinking about it, I think it helps to bring some joy with you, instead of waiting for it to happen to you.
I hope you all have a joyful Sunday. There’s a lot going on this crazy world. I’m glad you all are here. 🙏
I am glad you are here too Charlie.
Beautiful answer, Charlie. I am very glad that you are here.
I am glad too,
dear Charlie,
that you are here. ♥
🙏
Likewise Charlie.
I’m glad you’re here, Charlie.
One of the places I expect joy is riding my bike, and I imagine that’s true for you too. Isn’t it your day for mountain biking with friends?
Yes Barb, I rode yesterday and a couple of my old friends joined us. It was such a beautiful day. Exhausting, but fun. 🤩
Thank you all for your kind wishes and blessings for a restful time away.
I experienced joy this a.m. in the form of an email. My friend moved into assisted living and it was a challenging adjustment. She had not answered in 3 months. The reply after that length of time brought me relief and joy.
I am glad she responded to you, Yram.
Right now, and lately. I had no idea how much music would open up to me. It’s become a source of joy and friendship, and a lens through which to interpret life.
This is beautiful, Drea!
How did you start this journey into music. I remember you speaking about singing, and taking voice lessons if I recall correctly.
Did you begin with singing or with listening to music? I would love to hear more about your journey. 💕
Mary, I began with singing. I needed to heal my stomach, and I realized that sound and vocalization would help. I’d always wanted to take voice lessons, so I signed up and have been having a blast! Then, my hand injury made me realize that I can’t take my fingers for granted. Disease and injury can warp their shape. But I have the right shape of hand to get back into piano, another things I’d been wanting to do and waiting for “some day.” So I took the jump and now am learning to play again, and learning composition. Music has opened up to me in a new and revelatory way–totally without me intending it to. Feels like a blessed journey.
It came yesterday during my “Loc Gets Straight to the Point” recording session with Martin. I was able to breeze through those songs. All that practice paid off. Afterward, I felt productive and peaceful. My bran has been maximized, and the hardest part has passed which is during practice when I came up with more songs to connect dots to reduce time talking during intros and endings.
That sounds wonderful, Loc!
Fairly often. I love running errands with my husband. We may dread going to Costco then we get there and we’re like two silly children. We love to people watch. We always find a curvy road to downshift on. I can shift into joy easily.
How great that you and your husband can have so much fun together, Avril!
Avril, having things we like to do with our spouse is an intimate feeling. It’s like with Ngoc and me going on our daily walk in the morning and evening.
It was the first time I visited the elders at the housing apartment where I’m volunteering. There was an elder who recognized me. He said that he’d followed me on YouTube since I was on TV for a singing competition in 2019. It’s been seven years, and I am just one among many people around him. Yet, he still remembers me. He had never met me in real life. His kind words lifted my motivation for my path of singing Vietnamese songs, even though it’s not an easy path here in the U.S.
Happy Sunday, everyone!
We never know the impact we might have on others, Ngoc!
My Ngoc, being recognized is such a pleasureable feeling. It’s just like with Martin for me with my “Loc Gets Straight to the Point” songwriting business bran.
How lovely
to be remembered by this man,
dear Ngoc,
and what a treat it must have been to this man
to meet you in person. ♥
So true, Sparrow!
1:11am 9.20.89 – I gave birth to my son 37 yrs ago.
12 noon 12.15.93 – I gave birth to my daughter
1:09am 5.29.95 – I gave birth to my 2nd daughter
💗💗💗
Hugely significant moments, Michele!
Happy birthday to your son today!
Thank you
Good catch, Barb!
🙂
,,,,,,,Ditto
Thank you
This whole weekend I spent on some island outside of Stockholm and it was so joyful. We really had a lovely time and I’m very grateful. Thank you .🙏
That sounds beautiful, Antoinette! I just love water.
💞🙏