I laughed quite a bit today. It was lovely. I don’t notice the stretches of time when I don’t laugh a lot until I laugh a lot. Funny moments were shared between friends at work and tonight, as I thought about what I was going to write about for this 30 days of oversharing, I smiled at the memory of cramping cheeks in high school hallways over jokes that looked absurd from the outside.
I’m really thankful for my friends these days. There are a handful who have become like really important satellites throughout my day. I have thought through that metaphor completely but it seems right today. I hope I am a satellite for them, too.
Anyway, from laughing all day, I’m thinking about how important it is to seek out moments like that. I think we could all find reasons to be down and focused on the negative. I could give you 17 reasons this moment. But I won’t because I’m not trying to be that person for you.
Since my mom passed away, I’ve been reminded that it takes effort to find the good stuff in each day. And sometimes it takes a lot of effort. Sometimes the good stuff doesn’t outweigh the bad and the day can just be categorized as not good.
So today, in the midst of the daily chaos that is teaching virtual and in-person students, preparing to WFH the next two days for a conference, and evening plans, I took a second to be like, you know what? It was a good day. Was there anything remarkable? Not really. But did I get to laugh with friends and not want to pluck my eye out from typical teenage behavior? You bet. So we’ll take it.
I wonder what would happen if I was more conscious of looking through my day to find those little pockets of ~magic~ that reminded me that it’s good to be alive, even when the days aren’t fun. And that’s not some delusional approach to life or toxic positivity. You can have a terrible, wretched day and still go to sleep that night and be like, at least I still have XYZ.
Right now, my XYZs are: friends & family, mental & physical health, Jesus, good books, new music I’m obsessed with, Georgie, dino nuggets, funny students and people who care about me.
That’s all I got today bc it’s 9:30 and I have a 30 minute night rhythm bc quarantine made me do it.