What if joy was a rare event, occurring only once a year? Not only would we look forward to that day, we would also worry that something might steal it. Oh, Lord, what if we got food poisoning? What if…
Do Thoughts Shape Our Destiny?
I once knew a lady who hunted disappointments the way a squirrel searches for acorns. As the woman repeated a litany of daily insults and horrors, her black mood seeped into me. When I finally stopped listening to the emotional…
An Introduction to Joy Lessons
Joy Lessons is all about cultivating stillness in a chaotic world. My introduction to simple pleasures began nearly seventy years ago in my grandmother’s Mississippi garden. It was 1958. I was six-years-old, a scruffy girl with an abiding love for…
Unexpected Joy
During my search for a slower, sweeter lifestyle, I kept track of daily speed bumps–a whole cluster came from social media. I just couldn’t believe it. After all, I am a Facebook Failure and a Terrible Tweeter. I prefer Instagram,…
My travel essentials
A Quiet Life
The other day, as I looked at images on Tumblr and Pinterest, I stopped feeling inspired and began to fidget. What was wrong? Didn’t I enjoy looking at layer cakes and border gardens? How could I turn away from 1001…
Should You Keep a Joy Journal?
You deserve to thrive, not just survive. No one can sustain a joyful state. Bad days are just part of being human. Yesterday was packed with challenges, and my pulse zoomed, fast and irregular, like a squirrel racing across piano…
