Friday open thread: tiny joys
Aug. 7th, 2020 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12This is the second of my Friday open threads; last week's attempt worked well, and seemed to resonate with a lot of you, so I'm trying the whole thing again, with a different prompt.
As before, the idea is that I give you a prompt, and you interpret it in whatever way you'd like. Feel free to respond to each other's answers as well, if you'd like.
Today's question is: what are the small things that give you delight and joy? I don't mean large things — like stories, fandom, friendship, or the love of your spouse or family, but rather smaller, quieter, more self-contained moments of happiness.
The feeling of swimming in cold, clear water, outside, under the sky
The smell of tomato plants, heavy with fruit, in the warm sun
The clear, winter sky, at night, in Canberra
Sitting at a cafe, drinking a coffee that looks like this
The way babies and small toddlers move when they're walking or running or trundling along, so full of happiness and joy in their own unbounded motion
Coriander, garlic, lime, chili and fish sauce — preferably all together in some form!
Writing with a newly-inked fountain pen on a fresh sheet of paper
Making that first pot of tea in the morning, and drinking it, curled up in my wing chair, with my husband beside me, in the stillness of the first moments of the day
The smell of Australian eucalyptus trees in the heavy heat of summer
The view from the roof of my mother's apartment in Sydney
That feeling of sleepy satisfaction felt after a day swimming in the ocean, as if your mind and body have been washed clean
I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.
What about you?
As before, the idea is that I give you a prompt, and you interpret it in whatever way you'd like. Feel free to respond to each other's answers as well, if you'd like.
Today's question is: what are the small things that give you delight and joy? I don't mean large things — like stories, fandom, friendship, or the love of your spouse or family, but rather smaller, quieter, more self-contained moments of happiness.
I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.
What about you?
no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 04:50 pm (UTC)Listening to new songs.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 05:45 pm (UTC)I shall go with:
Dangling my feet into a lake or stream on a hot day
The moment at the end of a yoga class when you start to come out of relaxation and feel your fingers and toes start to warm up.
Buying something at a market or small shop when you have a quick, happy exchange with the vendor who is really glad you picked something nice
Learning randomly satisfying new words in other languages. I've been doing Welsh in lockdown; the word for porridge is uwd. UWD. It's lovely.
Opening a new book (new book smell) and knowing by page 2 that you're really going to fall into this one.
Going over a river bridge in a train
Opening a bottle of something fizzy that pops at you very slightly, maybe with a puff of air too
The first day of spring when you notice you're not hunching into your coat/scarf. Conversely the first morning of autumn when there is an edge to the air and you realise you'll need another layer soon.
Getting the temperature of a frying pan just right so that what you're putting in it sizzles perfectly on contact
Getting to know a tree or shrub that you pass often enough to notice its state changing over the year.
Putting something new on a wall or table you pass often, that makes you look at it anew.
A perfect piece of fruit that tastes just like you wanted. I get it most often with strawberries, peaches or very early plums.
Today specifically, having a fan sweeping the room and the repeated joy as the air reaches you
(I got carried away. Thank you!)
no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:48 pm (UTC)I don't think I've ever been close enough to a fig tree to know what the leave smell like, but it sounds lovely!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-09 01:07 pm (UTC)I will definitely be on the lookout for fig trees — I think some of the houses in our neighbourhood have them, although I'm not sure I can just stand around outside their garden walls smelling the leaves of overhanging trees!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:49 pm (UTC)And now you're making me crave peaches...
no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 08:25 pm (UTC)+ The sound of running water. I do love the sounds of the sea, but sometimes I think I love the sound of a creek or a fountain even more.
+ When you've been looking forward to a specific meal all day and you finally get to dig in.
+ The way my nephew can't quite pronounce my name
+ A perfect, truly ripe Georgia peach
+ Any view that is all natural. When you look out and see nothing but nature, you know? No man-made ugliness to distract you.
+ Laying under a fan when it's hot
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:52 pm (UTC)Running water sounds beautiful, especially if it's running over stones/rocks.
That's so cute about your nephew. My full name is long and has a lot of syllables, and although I always go by my nickname now, when I was a child I went by my full name, and the various different ways that small children pronounced it were adorable.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:07 am (UTC)Pressing my hands over my teapot to heat my fingers as I drink my first cup of daily tea.
The taste of strawberries in high summer, when you can taste the sunlight in their juice.
That first day when the slant of the sun's rays shines down straighter and more golden, and I know spring is here.
The way the sand erodes between my toes when I stand on the beach within reach of the waves.
The scent of orange blossoms blooming on the trees, and the nectar-drunk bees careening around them.
That moment when I'm writing and wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to say, but I feel the shape of a story suddenly crystallize, pure and perfect, in my mind.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:53 pm (UTC)I love the specificity of all your small joys!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:19 am (UTC)When a cup of tea is Just Right
Being completely submerged and being one with the loveliest embrace of the water
Olive oil + vinegar salad dressing
Food that goes CRONCH
Mirabelles!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 01:00 am (UTC)- The feeling of opening a new book
- The weight of a cat on my lap
- Chopping veggies neatly and precisely
- The first crowns of pink on evening clouds
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 04:35 am (UTC)Small sounds from sports events -- the crack of a baseball bat or hockey skates or a basketball bouncing on the gym floor.
When you get an email from a friend in response to a question, or a request for feedback on something you wrote, and you open it and they have written SO MUCH and you get to anticipate all these lovely words your smart friend put together.
Putting on clean, dry clothes after a day at the beach.
When a favorite song that's been woven through your life but that you haven't heard for a while comes on unexpectedly. (Half the time it's from MY OWN PLAYLIST. PAST ME HAD SUCH GOOD TASTE WHEN SHE PUT THESE PLAYLISTS TOGETHER).
My nephew, who is eighteen months old and doesn't talk yet, has this little grin after an interaction with another person, that looks like he has an exciting secret, or a joke to tell, and one day when he's older all these secrets will come pouring out.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 12:59 pm (UTC)Your second bullet point has reminded me how much I love the sound of slow games of cricket — I've never been hugely interested in watching it, but because the games last for four or five days, it's something that was just always on in the background on the TV or radio in the summer when I was growing up (and indeed my husband has it on on TV right now). It's so summery and sleepy and soothing. (When I was a very small child, my dad used to drive my younger sister and me around in the car with cricket on the radio to make us sleep, and the sound of it still has a Pavlovian soporific effect!)
I love the description of your nephew, and how he interacts with other people — that's adorable!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 07:39 am (UTC)finishing a physical book, spine uncracked, pages still neat, cover still perfect so that on the shelf you can't even tell it's been read
finding a new song that just feels good
that my dog knows the sound of me taking my headphones off when it's almost time for bed
that dog paw smell
using a brand new pen or notebook for the first time
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 11:35 am (UTC)Frog song after rain
Seeing someone in person after months of virtual communication
no subject
Date: 2020-08-08 01:01 pm (UTC)I totally agree with you about the sound of frog song after rain.