Things That Make Me Happy

In a world where the answer to “How are you?” is so frequently some variation of “busy”…”tired”…”hanging in there,” it seemed to me it was time we document the small, lovely things in the world that make us happy. As simple as that. The little occurrences; the mostly unimportant in a grand-scheme-of-things sort of way. But moments that are still present and sweet and quite happy nonetheless. So earlier this week I took a notebook along with me on my errands (which included decidedly non-happy things like preparing taxes and grocery shopping) and noted everything that delighted me along the way.

Coffee. (Duh.)
Sunshine.
Easy home solutions (i.e. the time I learned how to de-tarnish silver jewelry using baking soda).
Pink sprinkles from a sweet donut getting stuck on my lip.
The way my hair always blows all over my face in the wind, while everyone around me looks glamorous and quite prepared for their closeup. (See Exhibit A above, from a family trip to Seattle many years ago.)
The elderly gentleman at the coffee shop who had a full edition of The Denver Post rolled up and tucked into his back jeans pocket.
My local library named after a man called Eugene. (He wrote children’s poetry; isn’t that grand?)

Remembering to bring water along for my outings.
The simple wave of a fellow driver acknowledging you made room for them on a busy road.
Accidentally dying the back of my hand varying hues of pink and red while testing sample lipstick colors.
Kids so gleeful with their tiny, kid-sized shopping carts.
My siblings. It is a rare occasion when they don’t make me happy, but sometimes they are particularly excellent.