My birthday was yesterday! It’s the little things, little (and big) discoveries that amount to joy in life. Here are 34, in no particular order:
1. I’m not old. It was in vogue (but not actually funny) to lament about it when I was 23, but I’m over it now. This isn’t the 18th century; my life is far from almost or even half over. I don’t have to be married to survive or thrive in the world. I use moisturizer and don’t wear a corset. 😁
2. I’ve been to the UK twice. I lived in Oxford for a semester. And navigated London by myself without a cellphone. 🇬🇧
3. I know crap when I hear it AND can pick my battles with said crap.
4. Human beings are human beings, created in the image of God. If you feel the need to separate into camps, point fingers and spew hatred, it doesn’t make you strong; it makes you brittle and small. It’s poison. It kills you. I am haunted by my teenage years in which I aped untruths and negatives and thought it made me a better Christian. Far from it. I have since learned about grace and mercy… and know I will never stop learning.
5. Caring for your mental health is essential. It’s an American stigma. Proper care is difficult to access and expensive in this country. We need to do better. We need to practice empathy and humility. I lived with an diagnosed anxiety disorder for years, and it does get better. Not letting others criticize my needs, finding healthy coping mechanisms, and surrounding myself with good people has helped tremendously… even if the challenge is still there. We shouldn’t have to take this journey alone.
6. There is such a thing as too much coffee.
7. Success is relative. I’m a millennial. I’m single. I’m still a receptionist. I don’t own a house. But I’ve lived in the same apartment for five years, own a car and have paid off student loans. I finished a novel this year and am querying agents. Success to me is doing your best with what you’re given – not by accumulating things, but by finding your tribe, your community, and working for something that you love.
I also realize that being able to survive on my own depends a lot on the class I was born into and where I live. As I said, it’s relative. I don’t want to lose sight of others’ perspectives and others’ suffering. And there is a lot of it in the world, in this country.
8. I have wanted to write since long before I could remember. There is nothing so hard or so satisfying as putting words together and bringing characters to life.
9. Jeans are overrated.
10. Near-sightedness can be a super-power.
11. Apologize when you hurt someone.
12. Don’t let the eye doctor shame you about buying your glasses online. You can do what you want. You’re an adult. The eyeglass industry is one big greedy monopoly anyway. 👓
13. Feel the fear, do it anyway.
14. Binge-watching your favorite show too many times might make you hate it.
15. Don’t call me honey.
16. I love my fountain pen. 🖋
17. Beware of false dichotomies. Dogs vs. cats. Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Chocolate vs. vanilla. 1996 Pride & Prejudice vs. 2005 Pride & Prejudice. Etc. You can love two things. One isn’t better than the other. It’s not a competition.
18. Sincere actions are better than empty words.
19. I’ve finally found a hairstyle that hides my cowlicks.
20. I’m old enough to remember a world without the ubiquitous smart phone. My dorm room had a land-line.
21. Keep it simple, stupid.
22. If you want to be informed, read books and articles from many sources. Go down that rabbit hole and keep asking questions. Be curious. Don’t assume you’re an expert until you’ve done the work. Don’t let your brain atrophy from a lack of learning. 🧠
23. Sometimes, only a well-timed curse will do.
24. The best stories come from a character’s experience.
25. God divided time into day and night for a reason. So we could rest and focus on one day at a time.
26. I eat too much sugar. I blame years of my grandmother’s cookies and candy – always stockpiled, always ready.
27. The term Dark Ages does not mean what you think it means. It’s not another term for medieval. Heretics weren’t burned at the stake. Historians used the term to describe the paucity of the written historical record after Rome pulled out of Britain (roughly 400 AD) up to the Christian conversion of Britain’s Germanic (illiterate) invaders (roughly 600). Britain lost their literacy. That’s what it means. (If you are a historian and you can provide more insight, please comment!)
28. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the cat will be underfoot when you least expect her to be.
29. Friendships are precious. Nourish them.
30. I have too many colored pencils. Or do I?
31. I’d rather live without a dishwasher than a washer-dryer.
32. I love the British spellings of words. My beta reader some years ago had to tell me to stop using them. “Your audience is American!” A girl can dream.
33. I will not allow one person’s foul mood to ruin my day.
34. Never underestimate the joy of a winter evening with friends, surrounded by good food, the blaze of candles, warm drinks and simple crafts. Hygge season is here!
🌾
