Repurposed

It's hard to believe that this little blog of mine has gone untouched for almost 2 years, ignored and almost forgotten. Everytime I've come across the bookmark I have for it I've thought...I'm never going to use this blog again--- I should really just delete it. But I haven't--and maybe there's a reason for that.

I find myself hard pressed to take time for real joy these days. Sure, I like watching movies, going out with friends, reading a book, even seeing my students succeed---but all of this stuff seems like items on a check list--- as if living is a task that I am supposed to accomplish in the right way or not at all. My Reiki Master (yes, that's what I said---google it) said to me today, "you need to rediscover the joy in a bird singing, a breeze blowing---the simple things."

And of course I thought, You mean joy isn't leaving the office with a clean desk!? It isn't getting the oil changed within 200 miles of the 3,000 mile warning? Or being in bed by 11 so I'm not a walking zombie the next day at school? Hmm...interesting.

And suddenly this sweet little song from the musical "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" popped into my head. Lyrics as follows:

HAPPINESS IS FINDING A PENCIL.
PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE
TELLING THE TIME.
HAPPINESS IS LEARNING TO WHISTLE.
TYING YOUR SHOE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

HAPPINESS IS PLAYING THE DRUM IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL BAND.
AND HAPPINESS IS WALKING HAND IN HAND.
HAPPINESS IS TWO KINDS OF ICE CREAM.
KNOWING A SECRET.
CLIMBING A TREE.
HAPPINESS IS FIVE DIFFERENT CRAYONS.
CATCHING A FIREFLY.
SETTING HIM FREE.

HAPPINESS IS BEING ALONE EVERY NOW AND THEN.
AND HAPPINESS IS COMING HOME AGAIN.
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAY TIME AND NIGHT TIME TOO.
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

HAPPINESS IS HAVING A SISTER.
SHARING A SANDWICH.
GETTING ALONG.
HAPPINESS IS SINGING TOGETHER WHEN DAY IS THROUGH,
AND HAPPINESS IS THOSE WHO SING WITH YOU.
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME TOO.
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

I feel it worth pointing out that the first hit in my google lyric search for this song was the NIH kids page where they posted the song for the dual purpose of music and positive lyric contibuting to a healthy, happy lifestyle. Hm. Hmmmmm.....

At any rate, remembering these lyrics got me thinking about the things I do and see everyday that have the potential for joy which I don't take the time to fully acknowledge. And all of the sudden I thought---so I'll put one joyful on my blog everyday. And then I thought---Your Blog!? Didn't you delete that thing??

Nope. I never did.

So now, almost 2 years after my last post, I'm turning this into a joy-full reminder of the little things that bring joy each day. If I can't seem to maintain a full on paragraph style blog I figure that the least I can do is post a picture each day! So---here we go. The little thing that's bringing me joy right now.....

....My homemade multi-grain bread dough that actually doubled in size like it was supposed to because I kneaded it for 12 minutes like the directions asked for instead of 2 like I usually do.

AWESOME.