From Chaos Comes Happiness

  Dear Friends . . .  I have been doing it. Each and every day. Taking those little moments of joy and capturing them by feeling and by photo, and sharing them on my Instagram page. And I have learned SO much - it has been a lovely study, so to speak, about mind over matter. About pulling myself out of a funk and recognize that even while funky, there is so much joy. Not BIG "Disney World" sort of joy. I am talking day to day joy . . . the little things. Even in a funk, you can find it.  I have said this before . . . perhaps here on the blog, definitely to friends and to myself . . . the past few years have been hard. I feel like I have been in a perpetual state of grief. Mourning the illness and death of my sister, mourning the end of a dream and the closing a business that gave so much to my spirit, mourning relationships that failed, mourning a world in termoil and a global pandemic I certainly had never experienced before. I feel like my body and mind went into some hyper

I have been inspired since my last post to "Find the Joy", and wanted to hop in today and tell you about this journey and what I am doing. I have to tell you . . . I can already feel the difference within myself. In two short days, I am already taking more time to stop and be - stop and focus - stop and breath. All of it. The goal, and what my plan is . . . is to post photos of items and moments each and every day when I have FOUND the JOY. My goal is to capture (at least) 100 moments. They will be little things . . . big things . . . anything that has helped me stop the downward spiral that has been happening in my head and has helped me feel joy.   If you want to follow my journey each day - follow me on Instagram here  (side note: you have to have an Instagram account in order to access my Instagram.)  I will also be posting a weekly recap here on the blog.  I am using the hashtag #100JOYFCCH  .  .  . (the FCCH stands for the name of this blog - From Chaos Comes Happines

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about JOY this week. What brings it? How do we find it? What does it feel like? Who do we share it with?  Do you ever think about who you share your joy with? Lately . . . in my house . . . I feel as if we share more joy with strangers or people outside of our house than we do with the people inside.  My husband just got home from my daughters college. We both spent some time with her over the weekend - but took separate cars because of timing. I left a couple hours earlier today and stopped to pick up groceries, came home and cleaned the fridge, started laundry, and got some things done around the house. He stayed with her and took her to lunch, then drove home. When he walked in, he was cranky. A grouch. Since I had a couple hours to get some things accomplished, I was in a good mood. He looked like he was mad. Mad at the world. Mad at me. When I asked him, he said "I am tired. Is that ok?"  Of course. We all get tired.  But I am

  Driving into work one day this week, I was blown away by the beautiful sunrise unfolding in front of me. The Morning. I stopped my car while pulling in and took a few photos of the sky. The photo, of course, doesn't do justice to the sun rays illuminating behind the clouds. I wish I could have captured it clearer for you - it was glorious.  I sat right there in my car for a few minutes, taking it in. It changed quickly and I was grateful that I caught it for the brief minute (or two) when it looked like this. It was everything I needed that morning - a moment to breathe in and reflect. Focus. Be.  When I look at the photo now, it makes me think of some people who have stepped out of my life the past year. People who left - not in death, but for whatever their own reasonings may be. And it is now, looking at this picture, that I find myself coming to terms with this process . . . the loss of people from our circles who are still very much alive, but who needed to leave them, for t

I've started a new chapter, friends . . . in my Book of Life.  I sat down tonight and thought about it - my book. I haven't thought about it in a long time. We each have our own book, you know? Some are long-drawn-out novels, others are short and sweet novellas. Some are cliff notes with only key moments included, others are multiple volumes in great lengths discussing every single battle in great detail. Some are strictly illustration, others have an extensive collection of footnotes that are longer than the story itself. But my story is mine, and yours is yours.  They started the day we were born, and have grown to carry each moment that makes us who we are.  I love thinking about people in my life, and wondering what their Book of Life looks like. Soft cover or hard? Hand-bound or spiral?  Big or Little? Would there be any photos, or would the words alone paint the images in our minds? I think every single book would be worth reading, and can only imagine what an amazing lib