Jan 12
A Collective List of Small Joys
What would you put on yours?
Our days have two faces — the beaming and the downcast. In between lies a space of neutrality.
Within that space, there are small things that make a big difference. These things are not what we call essential but they give meaning to the hours we consume while here.
I made a list of these things today.
Mama’s cooking
cozy socks
ginger tea
scented candle
morning yoga
sea shells
a student asking which word to use in her essay
my students teaching me a Vietnamese phrase
clicking ‘Publish’ after writing a blog post
the smell of my dog after a bath
(her smell before bath is okay too)
old photographs from home
purple pens, fountain pens
cheap, yellow daisies from the market
oatmeal with honey
cycling between fields and mountains
waking up to a plan-less Sunday
finding a quiet cafe in a noisy city
writing prompts
sharing podcasts, articles, and books to people who will enjoy them
thick jackets and blankets
finding the right book when it’s needed
video calls with friends and family
having the right words to say
knowing when to be silent
Making this list is nice to do once in a while. What would you put on your list?
Read my open letter to 2023 here. If you want to look further back, here is my open letter to 2022.
Here’s a list of my favorite books from 2022.
Odyssa is a Filipino writer and teacher based in Hanoi, Vietnam. She is the author of Like A New Sun Rising: A Collection of Poems on Love and From Where I Stand: A Collection of Poems on Travel.
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