Month: May 2026

Posted in Life

What’s a Simple Pleasure in Life that Brings You Joy?

Posted on by jennrae

Little moments like watching TV while I pet my cat, or reading a science article on my phone while sipping a fresh cup of coffee can bring me joy.

Waking up in the morning on my day off not having to be anywhere right away and getting to get ready for the day as slowly as I want to. Listening to music while writing or working out at the gym is also a simple pleasure that is joyful.

Sometimes something as simple as an unexpected compliment from a stranger makes my day because they have no inherent bias or reason to say anything nice.

It is a reminder that even the simplest interaction can have good or bad consequences for someone else. Something as simple as helping someone reach something or listening when someone just needs to be heard.

Sometimes being outside, seeing the blue sky and hearing the birds chirp is enough. Planting flowers and carefully tending to them can be enough.

Sometimes just being able to walk around and see the world is still here is enough.

Some days I need a little more feeling, a little more connection to feel joy. A fresh cup of coffee helps but isn’t always enough. Sometimes I need a hug or someone to take care of me even if it is just a sweet dream.

Sometimes it is enough simply to breathe in and breathe out, to put one foot in front of the other. Little moments throughout the day amount to something, sometimes it can be defeating or demoralizing.

Things can seem trivial and pointless and I can feel like my life isn’t very impactful.

But other days, things are beautiful and I am so glad I can experience all of this. And nothing is truly trivial. It all matters somehow, somewhere, to someone. Sometimes we never find out how or where. Sometimes that has to be enough. You have to live for those little moments that do lead to joy.

Posted in Life

What’s a Moment you Wish you Could freeze and Live in Forever?

Posted on by jennrae

The phrase Live Forever makes me think of Oasis and the song. A song I listened to as a young person when all young people acted as if they would live forever in this moment. I feel like moments being finite gives them more meaning and makes them more precious.

Even memories fade and change with time. They get fuzzy and you start to fill in the blanks you don’t remember with what you wished or wanted them to be, not what they actually were. If I had just one moment that I could freeze and live in forever there are a few candidates. The one moment I would want most hasn’t happened for me yet. But I am hopeful for the future. I can almost see it and taste it.

I see myself on a beach in a certain dress with a certain pair of shoes and I look up and lock eyes with the person I know with a certainty is meant for me. That would be the moment. That moment while things aren’t real yet, but aren’t just a fantasy. The moment between reality and a dream.

The moment I know its real but the real world hasn’t compromised it or ruined it yet. I don’t know when or if that moment will happen. But I look forward to it and it would be enough for me.

As far as a moment that has all ready happened in my past, I would probably choose when I got to hold my son for the first time. I was scared and didn’t know what I was doing or what I would do.

I was overwhelmed with responsibility and fear that I would somehow screw this little person up. But after or before all the panicked thoughts, when I was too tired to comprehend the immensity of it all, still tired but strangely calm. The little snuffling noises and the tiny hands wanting to scratch his little face up.

The crying every time he was swaddled. I had the one baby that didn’t like his limbs pinned together. He wanted to scratch his face so badly. I had to keep these tiny mittens on his hands. I don’t know why he was into his face, maybe he didn’t like being swaddled because he couldn’t move his hands to his face.

I finally had to tell the nurse to stop doing it, because he would be upset unless it was loose enough to get his arms free. He would smack his lips like an old man. I would like that moment when he was just a warm lump on me. A peaceful moment when nothing else mattered or would matter as much again. That is a forever moment and one I will cherish until I die.

Posted in Life, Writing

What Gives You Direction in Life?

Posted on by jennrae
Daily writing prompt
What gives you direction in life?
View all responses

Sometimes my direction in life, especially when I was younger, was largely dependent on other people. I grew up in a stable household. My parents were married and still are and I grew up mostly in one house. We moved to another house when I was seventeen years old and that is where they are today. I have memories of the old house and I used to dream of buying it someday and fixing it up. It hasn’t worked out that way, at least not yet. I do not know what the future holds but I can’t see it happening anytime soon.

I lived in the same area went to schools in the town I grew up in. Sometimes I did envy the military brats or the people that would move from place to place. I never felt like I really got to start over. As a young adult I did move away a couple times but never very far. Furthest was two and a half hours away.

I did and still would like to see the world beyond my tiny corner. I do still have time to do that. I saw my life being different than it has turned out. I thought I would have a companion by now. Someone to share in adventures with, but that hasn’t turned out like I imagined either. Sometimes I feel like I am still waiting for something dramatic to happen to me instead of actively doing something.

I like writing but I haven’t managed to do anything with it. I need to go on an adventure myself and get going on living. I don’t want to have regrets when I look back on things and I want memories to cherish. I have been in a funk working too much and just surviving.

I’m hoping my vacation in July will be a sort of reset for me because I do need some direction. I feel I have been aimlessly floating down a lazy river but I am ready for something different.

When I look out the window here I see tons of cars going east and west. Tourist season is here in my small town. Businesses trying to get strangers to buy clothing and handmade crafts. I feel like they enjoy my town more than I do because to me it isn’t a travel destination but the place that is always here and always will be.

They get to see it with fresh eyes and I am a bit envious. It will get crazier in July when I will be gone. The tourists will still be here when I get back. They start to taper off in August, which makes September my favorite month here.

It is like a hidden month of summer that most don’t know about. You get all the perks of July and August without all the traffic and events. Seeing these people with their little shopping bags looking so carefree and happy makes me yearn for when it is my turn. I need to get away from this place and my job and breathe. I am getting burned out from work, and I need some time to recharge and be creative.

So what gives me direction? Sometimes it is the circumstances around me, family, employment, and survival, other times I crave more. I want to build and make something. Most of all I want people to share it with who value me and my thoughts. I guess love is a driving force for me. It is why I moved away and to where in the past. It is also why I moved back home. Love is a huge guiding force for me. Hope for the future and nature to renew my spirit are must haves for me.

Ideally I would be near a body of water. I like the sound even if it is just a creek. Water moving replenishes me. I need trees and blue skies. I couldn’t survive in a city permanently. I can visit, but I couldn’t just exist in a concrete jungle. I need green, and blue. I need life.

I go in the direction of being near my loved ones. But I also want to experience other places that I can learn and think about. I think sometimes you need to leave home to truly appreciate it even if it is only for a few days.