Hello and happy sanctified Sunday.  I’m feeling a lot better this week, and since we got rain on Friday … my allergies haven’t been that intense.  This has been a really chilled week.  I got my yoga in for the week, along with arms on Monday, walking on Tuesday, Just Dance on Wednesday, and some exercises that help strengthen my back to round out the week.  I’m also caught up on all my shows … I mean it’s just been good.

Speaking about good … do you have a favorite scent that reminds you of something happy or a place that you go that always brings you joy? I know whenever I smell fresh paint it reminds me of when my family moved to our first house. It was scary and exciting all at the same time but it made me happy.  To this day whenever I smell paint, it reminds me of that. List #36 is about listing the scents, spaces, textures, and sounds that bring you joy. 

• The smell of fresh paint
• The smell of coffee
• Cotton sheets
• The smell of turkey on Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving)
• A park path that “B” and I would walk through when we first moved to Virginia
• Taney Avenue on Halloween
• Christmas Tree candles
• The crunch of fall leaves
• Everything on Halloween
• Summer evenings in my living room space

“TAKE ACTION”  How many of these things can you combine into one joy-filled experience?  Try lighting a candle in the coziest spot in your home, pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink, and indulge in some serious me time with your favorite movie, book, or music.

This list could literally go on-and-on for me, but I stopped at a certain point.  My brain can register everything as happy because I take pleasure in simple things.  Like a special breakfast on weekends with coffee.  Picking out candles, and things for our place with “B”, and how much I’m in love with the Fall Season.  I associate most of these things that make me happy as a … coming into my own type-of-thing.

You have to experience life to find out what you can’t stand, what’s uncomfortable as well as what makes you happy. This take action is perfect if you just need to decompress and unplug for a few hours.  Take your mind off what’s stressful with something you enjoy so you can be in the right frame of mind to attack it.  I say if it feels good do it, [as long as your not hurting anyone].

It’s not selfish to put yourself first once in a while.  It’s productive, it’s self-care, it’s taking care of “you” so you can take care of others around you.  I use to always feel guilty for buying myself something because I would feel like I should be putting that money elsewhere or investing it.  I know now that when I spend money on myself that I am investing it in “me” for my health and well-being.  We don’t get to do this life over, so we have to make the best of life no matter how it presents itself, and even kick it in the ass if we have to.  … So I’ll ask you … are you living, or are you just existing.

With that … I’ll close my post today.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and with each post in this series, I hope that I can bring some of my experiences, and joy, to others, because if you have joy in your heart, then you spread that joy to others, and pay it forward. The 52 List for Happiness: Weekly Journaling Inspiration for Positivity, Balance, and Joy is available on Amazon.  – [Know Thyself] Wye

Want to get caught up on my 52 List Journal?  See how this all began by starting from List #1 in the Archives.

PHOTO CREDITS
◈ header image | Moyo Studio + Creative Market
◈ 52 List Journal images | by Wyetha

EQUIPMENT//SHOOTING
◈ Nikon D90
◈ iPhone 6 plus
◈ Blue Snowball USB Microphone

PROGRAMS//SOFTWARE//AUDIO
◈ Adobe Lightroom
◈ Adobe Photoshop
◈ PhotoScapeX
◈ Garage Band