Small Pleasures

Since the "big" things in life sure don't always pan out!?

Jan 31, 2024

Let’s just be brutally honest here. Since the Covid era/psyop whooshed in with a bang four years ago now, I am not as cheerful a person as I used to be.

I’m fun-challenged!

I somehow doubt I’m alone in this.

Ai-yi-yi!

Anyone who’s liable to be reading this post is probably also more than a little worn out by all the stuff so many of us have learned.

Nasty things. Seriously nasty things.

Many comfortable old illusions have been shattered to smithereens.

The sound of pedestals crashing has been positively deafening!

It’s quite the time!?

So. My own moods are lower than they used to be.

Some days feel kind of like a very steep mountain I have to haul my way painfully up. In a way I never used to experience my days.

So.

I’m going to share a list of “small” things that help buoy my spirits.

A relevant quotation?

“Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

The List

Getting a good night’s sleep
When the (seemingly endless & unseasonable) rain takes a pause (winter is no longer what it used to be, at least where I live, that’s for sure!)
When the sun puts in an appearance! (Vanishingly rare these days! Gray, gray, gray & more gray, here in Toronto)
Having a walk - either alone or with a friend
Having a good conversation with a friend or loved one
Spending time with loved ones, period
Making a good meal or a pot of soup
Finding a really good book to read (I seem to be finding a lot of duds lately, for some reason 🙁)
Having a friend email me some funny things - laughter is also more rare than it used to be! (Thanks, P! 🙂🙂)
Feeling well again after a bout of illness
Friendly exchanges with people when I’m out & about doing errands
Funny &/or insightful quotes & memes I run across on Facebook, or in Substacks (speaking of Substack, I salute the incredible number of insightful contributors there are on it, & yet also, since I subscribe to a lot of them, it can be a little on the overwhelming side)

Here’s a meme that cracks me up!

🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Listening to a rousing good conversation/interview on a podcast
Or some great music!
Nature. Always Nature… in all its forms. Birds! Trees. Water bodies. Even squirrels & raccoons! For me? Trees especially…

Noting the huge number of heroes who’ve come forward in the Covid era. Doctors. Scientists. Lawyers. Writers. Regular folks. Alternative/indie news sources proliferating. Podcasters! Convoys! It’s so inspiring how many people are behaving heroically in these punishing times!!

Here’s An Odd One!

Being out of the convincing business

I spent many years learning a lot about a laundry list of different environmental problems/issues (this goes back to the mid-1980s). For a few decades there I was a very busy activist (& writer). Then, in 2016 I dove into the vaccine issue with both feet. My most-read posting on Substack explains why I became an anti-vaxxer at the ripe old age of 63.

I expended vast amounts of energy - over decades! - trying to convince people to learn - do research - dig into issues of all kinds. Since many issues are very complex.

You know, kind of like that iceberg?

Only a small amount showing. Considerable complexity hiding beneath the surface.

& then … along came Covid

The Covid era has left me frequently incredulous at the things some/many people believe - on a variety of issues - not just environmental ones. Not just illness & vaccine-related. Or censorship or politics or galloping totalitarianism-related.

It’s also taught me that, largely, people believe what they want to believe.

And how terribly subject to sound bites & PR slogans & easy answers to tough questions/issues most humans are.

Most of us are terribly slow to connect the dots. Myself very much included! We humans can sure be mighty slow learners. Sigh.

Finally? That I needn’t spend my own precious energy, anymore, trying to convince people to believe what I believe.

Being out of the convincing business (well; mostly 🙂) helps me stay a little saner in these very insane times.

It’s way more relaxing!

So.

There’s that.

In these wild, wild, dizzying & chaotic times, anything that helps me stay even vaguely on an “even keel” makes for sound personal strategy!

A few more things…

Remembering to be actively grateful for my many blessings. There’s a lot of good stuff about gratitude here. Writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. used to say we need to make it a point to find things to be grateful for. And to say, as often as possible, If this isn't nice, I don't know what is!
Remembering to laugh a little, from time to time. (I posted a list of funny things a while back. New subscribers may want to check it out! Good laughs, no politics whatsoever.)
Remembering to be kind … to everyone - including myself! I do my best not to beat myself up anymore. Life’s too short for that!