Let's water some seeds of joy

TraciInLA

My heart aches over what so many of you are facing right now: Disappointing test results and frightening recurrences, loved ones’ health issues, even the loss of people you care about.

I feel like anything I could say is just so small and insignificant, which is what keeps bringing my mind back to a quote from Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh encouraging us to “water the seeds of joy.” I confess I know very little about the spirit or intention behind his phrase, but it’s always encouraged me to try to find some small thing of joy around me even when life is at its most difficult.

So, in that spirit, let’s use this thread to water some seeds of joy together! Share with us a small joy you’ve had lately, something that made you smile, a little seed that felt like maybe it could grow into a flower. We’ll help you water it!

For me, it’s the summer’s first sunflowers –- I planted five sunflowers against our backyard wall over Memorial Day weekend, and, over the past week, they’ve erupted into a dozen loud, happy blooms. I can’t look at sunflowers and not smile!

Anyone else have a seed of joy to share?

Traci

lynn1950

A tiny (maybe three weeks
A tiny (maybe three weeks old) calico kitten followed me home from my walk a week ago. Her name is Minerva McGonagall and her fighting spirit and kitten sweetness inspire me. Then Saturday, we picked up a pup from a litter fathered by our yellow lab. Big Ben is 6 weeks of pure puppy love. Life is good. xoxoxoxo Lynn

Clementine_P

lynn1950 said:

A tiny (maybe three weeks
A tiny (maybe three weeks old) calico kitten followed me home from my walk a week ago. Her name is Minerva McGonagall and her fighting spirit and kitten sweetness inspire me. Then Saturday, we picked up a pup from a litter fathered by our yellow lab. Big Ben is 6 weeks of pure puppy love. Life is good. xoxoxoxo Lynn

My mother turned 80
and we had a great party for her this weekend. She is a 30 year survivor of BC and seeing her sitting there "presiding" over the party and smiling and laughing was all that I needed to have a big smile on my face today and probably for days to come.

Thanks for the great post, Traci.

Clementine

TraciInLA

lynn1950 said:

A tiny (maybe three weeks
A tiny (maybe three weeks old) calico kitten followed me home from my walk a week ago. Her name is Minerva McGonagall and her fighting spirit and kitten sweetness inspire me. Then Saturday, we picked up a pup from a litter fathered by our yellow lab. Big Ben is 6 weeks of pure puppy love. Life is good. xoxoxoxo Lynn

I'm coming to your house!
You have a 3-week-old kitten AND a 6-week-old puppy at your house? Lynn, I'm coming to your house to play the next time I'm feeling blue -- talk about joy!

Traci

LoveBabyJesus

Clementine_P said:

My mother turned 80
and we had a great party for her this weekend. She is a 30 year survivor of BC and seeing her sitting there "presiding" over the party and smiling and laughing was all that I needed to have a big smile on my face today and probably for days to come.

Thanks for the great post, Traci.

Clementine

OMG! God BLESS YOUR MOM!!!!
Clementine -- I feel emotional these days. And news like these make me cry, from happiness. Happy Birthday to your MOM from me.

LoveBabyJesus

Love this post, BTW - Thank you
I have a couple of cousins visiting from Dominican Republic. They are young, 17 and 14. Being with them makes me feel good.

I have a wonderful man who takes care of me all the time! He is always here for me, no matter what. I am grateful for that too.

I have 4 pets, 3 guinea pigs and a cat. When the guinea pigs hear my voice, they do "pop corn". It makes me smile when they do that. They get really happy.

Clementine_P

LoveBabyJesus said:

OMG! God BLESS YOUR MOM!!!!
Clementine -- I feel emotional these days. And news like these make me cry, from happiness. Happy Birthday to your MOM from me.

Thank you! I will tell my mom you wished her a happy birthday!

grams2jc

A tiny whoosh and beat, some bright bangs
Heard the heartbeat of little 12 1/2 week fetus JC last Friday, talk about joy and tears.

Then a belated July 4th family get-together Saturday evening of our blended bunch. It was wonderful, no tension, just good food, fun fireworks and a little planter's punch.

Thanks for suggesting this thread Traci,

Jennifer

natly15

Big One-Deported 7/8/11
Plus
Big One-Deported 7/8/11

Plus I recently spent time with Brooke and Troy and that is always joyful.

My sweet basil is growing very well and so I have fresh basil for cooking.

Ticky

natly15 said:

Big One-Deported 7/8/11
Plus
Big One-Deported 7/8/11

Plus I recently spent time with Brooke and Troy and that is always joyful.

My sweet basil is growing very well and so I have fresh basil for cooking.

It is just a feel good day
I feel good today I got a lot done at work. Hope you are having a great day and the discomforts of the beast are minor today.

Hugs,

Ticky

GreeneyedGirl

Ticky said:

It is just a feel good day
I feel good today I got a lot done at work. Hope you are having a great day and the discomforts of the beast are minor today.

Hugs,

Ticky

Big Family, Sunday Dinner~
~my sister is visiting from out of state for the summer, and having big family dinners together (all my kids, and grandkids) over to feast and laugh, reminiscing and just "being" together, brings JOY to my heart. Life has thrown some curve balls, and I am just enjoying these moments of being with the ones I love so dearly~
~Melanie
~and my hollyhocks are finally starting to bloom in our lack of sunshine summer~ so far white has burst open this week! waiting on 3 other spots to bloom!

mamolady

roses
My husband keeps a rose garden in the front yard for me. Right now several of them are in full bloom. The Intrigue, Double Delight, Royal Amythist, Remember Me, Sterling, Heart of Gold.
It is always a joy to see the color explosion in the front yard.
Another fun day recently was taking my labrador and grand daughter swimming at my mother in laws. Henry (the lab) was beside himself happy. He didn't wait for anyone to go in the back yard with him he just jumped in. Sammie had fun too but not nearly as much as Henry.

Cindy

sea60

mamolady said:

roses
My husband keeps a rose garden in the front yard for me. Right now several of them are in full bloom. The Intrigue, Double Delight, Royal Amythist, Remember Me, Sterling, Heart of Gold.
It is always a joy to see the color explosion in the front yard.
Another fun day recently was taking my labrador and grand daughter swimming at my mother in laws. Henry (the lab) was beside himself happy. He didn't wait for anyone to go in the back yard with him he just jumped in. Sammie had fun too but not nearly as much as Henry.

Cindy

My grandson's
excitement of going potty! It all finally clicked for him this past week. The joy and claps we give him, cheering him on. He's just so precious to me and I'm blessed to see him every weekend. So he's now a "big boy" wearning his teeny, tiny undies...so cute!

Hugs,

Sylvia

Grandma X 6

Life is good
I have a new Granddaughter as of Friday she is beautiful and tiny 6 lb 2oz and 19 inches long her name is Emma Grace she is the light of our life as well as our other 3 Grandchildren. We have to look for the happiness in life no matter how small it may be. We have all been through hell and back we deserve to have some happiness. God bless all of us!

Heatherbelle

I have a nice little seed of
I have a nice little seed of joy that i planted myself this weekend! We had a yard sale and a bake sale/fundraiser for our Making Strides against Breast Cancer team. It was Sautrday & Sunday. I had put my youngest daughter's crib & matching changing table in the sale - they are gorgeous cherry wood, and we bought them brand new 3 years ago. The crib sold the first few hours of the sale but not the table. On Sunday, as we're starting to pack up & call it a day, a woman and her very pregnant daughter came by & were looking at the table. The woman comes up to me & asks how bad I want to sell it, and she opens her wallet & takes out $32 - "this is all the cash that I have, but my daughter is due in 2 weeks and we're looking for one we can afford" - we were asking $50 for it but I sold it to her for that price. They had to drive back home (a few blocks away) and get her husband's truck to haul the table in. When they left, we gathered all of the baby items we still had - crib sheets, blankets, comforter, newborn onesies & clothes, newborn toys, a baby wipes warmer, changing pad & covers, socks, and all the little boy clothes we had (i had a few ppl donate items for the sale, so we had a selection of boys clothes. We put it ALL in the drawers & the big shelf inside the changing table for them It made me feel really good. And we raised $110 for the walk!
*hugs*
Heather

fauxma

Heatherbelle said:

I have a nice little seed of
I have a nice little seed of joy that i planted myself this weekend! We had a yard sale and a bake sale/fundraiser for our Making Strides against Breast Cancer team. It was Sautrday & Sunday. I had put my youngest daughter's crib & matching changing table in the sale - they are gorgeous cherry wood, and we bought them brand new 3 years ago. The crib sold the first few hours of the sale but not the table. On Sunday, as we're starting to pack up & call it a day, a woman and her very pregnant daughter came by & were looking at the table. The woman comes up to me & asks how bad I want to sell it, and she opens her wallet & takes out $32 - "this is all the cash that I have, but my daughter is due in 2 weeks and we're looking for one we can afford" - we were asking $50 for it but I sold it to her for that price. They had to drive back home (a few blocks away) and get her husband's truck to haul the table in. When they left, we gathered all of the baby items we still had - crib sheets, blankets, comforter, newborn onesies & clothes, newborn toys, a baby wipes warmer, changing pad & covers, socks, and all the little boy clothes we had (i had a few ppl donate items for the sale, so we had a selection of boys clothes. We put it ALL in the drawers & the big shelf inside the changing table for them It made me feel really good. And we raised $110 for the walk!
*hugs*
Heather

Traci
This is just the most
Traci
This is just the most perfect post you started.
Okay, my joy is that Den is home and doing alright and when he saw the grandkids and they got so excited, he broke into a big smile and it didn't droop. It was a perfect u shaped smile and his dimple was showing. It's the first time. That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. Later it was back to being slightly droopy but I know that it will be back permanently soon. Thank you Traci for this post. I think that the monk meant that we must nuture our joy like growing a plant. It may start small but if we build on the little joys they will grow to bigger joys. Just my interpretation.
Stef

TraciInLA

natly15 said:

Big One-Deported 7/8/11
Plus
Big One-Deported 7/8/11

Plus I recently spent time with Brooke and Troy and that is always joyful.

My sweet basil is growing very well and so I have fresh basil for cooking.

Everybody over to Cousin Natly's for Italian!
I've got basil in the garden this summer, too -- last weekend, I hacked off at least half of each plant to make some killer pesto, and I swear it's all grown back already!

The joy and exuberance of plants that are just determined to grow and grow and grow, no matter what, always renews my spirit.

Traci

TraciInLA

sea60 said:

My grandson's
excitement of going potty! It all finally clicked for him this past week. The joy and claps we give him, cheering him on. He's just so precious to me and I'm blessed to see him every weekend. So he's now a "big boy" wearning his teeny, tiny undies...so cute!

Hugs,

Sylvia

Come on, Sylvia -- 'fess up
'Fess up, Sylvia -- have you already done the Grandma thing and gone out and bought him big boy undies with trucks or Spider Man or Sponge Bob on them?

:-) Traci

TraciInLA

Heatherbelle said:

I have a nice little seed of
I have a nice little seed of joy that i planted myself this weekend! We had a yard sale and a bake sale/fundraiser for our Making Strides against Breast Cancer team. It was Sautrday & Sunday. I had put my youngest daughter's crib & matching changing table in the sale - they are gorgeous cherry wood, and we bought them brand new 3 years ago. The crib sold the first few hours of the sale but not the table. On Sunday, as we're starting to pack up & call it a day, a woman and her very pregnant daughter came by & were looking at the table. The woman comes up to me & asks how bad I want to sell it, and she opens her wallet & takes out $32 - "this is all the cash that I have, but my daughter is due in 2 weeks and we're looking for one we can afford" - we were asking $50 for it but I sold it to her for that price. They had to drive back home (a few blocks away) and get her husband's truck to haul the table in. When they left, we gathered all of the baby items we still had - crib sheets, blankets, comforter, newborn onesies & clothes, newborn toys, a baby wipes warmer, changing pad & covers, socks, and all the little boy clothes we had (i had a few ppl donate items for the sale, so we had a selection of boys clothes. We put it ALL in the drawers & the big shelf inside the changing table for them It made me feel really good. And we raised $110 for the walk!
*hugs*
Heather

What a lovely story, Heather
You SHOULD feel good -- what a lovely thing to do for those women. So glad you shared it with us.

Traci

TraciInLA

fauxma said:

Traci
This is just the most
Traci
This is just the most perfect post you started.
Okay, my joy is that Den is home and doing alright and when he saw the grandkids and they got so excited, he broke into a big smile and it didn't droop. It was a perfect u shaped smile and his dimple was showing. It's the first time. That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. Later it was back to being slightly droopy but I know that it will be back permanently soon. Thank you Traci for this post. I think that the monk meant that we must nuture our joy like growing a plant. It may start small but if we build on the little joys they will grow to bigger joys. Just my interpretation.
Stef

Perfect back at you, Stef
Stef, if an un-crooked smile isn't a seed of joy, I don't know what is!

Traci

Double Whammy

grams2jc said:

A tiny whoosh and beat, some bright bangs
Heard the heartbeat of little 12 1/2 week fetus JC last Friday, talk about joy and tears.

Then a belated July 4th family get-together Saturday evening of our blended bunch. It was wonderful, no tension, just good food, fun fireworks and a little planter's punch.

Thanks for suggesting this thread Traci,

Jennifer

I don't think anyone can top Jennifer.
Wow Jennifer! That is quite a joyful event.

Suzanne