If You Need Up-Cheering, Try This

Apropos of nothing, here is a collection of things that immediately lift the mood:

• wearing your hair in space-buns

• putting a couple lemon slices in your water bottle

• going to the grocery store early in the morning before anyone else

• a Pink Lady apple

• when you see a daffodil budding and realize spring is close by

• how it feels after you’ve changed your bedsheets

• finishing a really good memoir

• hearing a new song you instantly love (“High Seas” by Drew and Ellie Holcomb)

• playing an old song you used to love (“Die Fledermaus - The Laughing Song” by Charlotte Church)

• finding a sudden, perfect parking spot

• the first bunches of pussy willow in shops

• trading book recommendations with someone whose taste you admire

• when you get to start a new tube of toothpaste

• finding a color that you look really alive in (wisteria, thank you)

• compliments from old ladies

• seeing someone really beautiful/handsome

• when you climb into bed and it holds you just right

• going for a walk in a place where you can’t hear traffic

• digging up a really good, old memory from the vault and telling your partner or best friend about it

• Matisse’s Blue Nudes collection of lithographs

• a salty maple shaken espresso made at home and poured over ice (with whole milk)

• doing something kind for someone and telling nobody

• remembering to take your vitamins

• stretched-out muscles after a good yoga practice

• any moment when you realize that you feel well

• a quiche made the right way (lots of cream, bacon, a bit of cheddar)

• staying off social media for an entire weekend

• doing a craft

• writing a letter or card, finding a stamp for it, and sending it in the mail

• forgetting where your phone is because you were busy doing something you love

• flipping through a seed catalog

• a perfect almond croissant

• walking instead of driving

• freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

• listening to Jon Batiste play the piano

• a bowl of spicy shrimp and grits

• putting your feet in the ocean or any body of natural, running water

• doing a stretching or mobility video (they sound lame, they feel delicious)

• spending time around children

• reading a single Mary Oliver poem

• a cup of lemon sorbet eaten with a tiny spoon

• a smooth-running (but fine-tip) pen

• repairing something instead of throwing it away

• going easy on the caffeine

• going heavy on the herbal tea with honey

• when older women have their nails painted and their hands dripping with costume jewelry

• when someone has a clear animal doppelganger (I helped an alpaca at the desk today)

• visiting with a friend who also hates small talk

• watching a fresh, unexpectedly interesting movie (Coup! on Hulu)

• a really good Caesar salad

• consistent involvement with some type of club or community (thanks, book club and Tapestry Church!)

• marking up your personal books with impressions, thoughts, or favorite quotations.

• quitting something (controversial, but bold!)

• a heavyweight cotton crewneck sweatshirt

• taking the time to make homemade guacamole (soft avocados, lots of fresh lime, salt, chopped cilantro, a small bit of onion, some fresh tomatoes. End scene.)

• choosing a sweater from the closet that still smells faintly of perfume

• seeing someone who looks like a loved one you miss

• when a dog or a baby or an animal picks you

I could go on, but those are the things top in my mind today. Leave your personal mood-boosters below. I love to hear what my friends are enjoying, and why. It’s amazing to see what makes everybody tick, and to take a moment to mark out all the small pleasures ready for the picking in life. The world will always have troubles, and there are some very troubling times. It helps to keep note of the joyous places we can find a lift. They are always here, waiting to be noticed.

Love,

Rachel