Thinking about Thailand again reminded me. This is from my trip notes:

...months from now I will turn a pair of shoes,
and see a fine trickle of moonlit sand,
and remember Thai beaches, far away.

Choose Joy

I didn't have time to paint, or post (here, or on etsy) yesterday. Madly dashing about the house, cleaning & tidying for some pending houseguests. As if an old friend from University and the two teenage boys she was bringing were going to care if my drawers were organized and the floors were clean! Driving my mom, who'd come to help, and myself, to the brink of crazy.

On the other hand, it's a good thing I do get guests on a regular basis--each time, my house gets a little cleaner, a little more organized. I unpack and put away a few more boxes. I moved into this house about a year and a half ago--it's a process! When the countertops are clear it feels like there's more air in the room. I take deeper, calmer breaths. And yes, I'm happy.

Have been thinking about joy a lot lately. A part of me that I'd never separated out and addressed by name until about five years ago. It was on a beach in Thailand, a day or two after the tsunami. Yes, that tsunami. I wasn't affected, not in a physical, direct way--I was on a different island, in a different ocean. But it was a trip--a journey--that will affect me for the rest of my life.
More about that another time.

The topic now is joy: Choosing happiness. I met a wise, wonderful, beautiful young woman on that island. A doctor, a writer, a thinker. A brave and sensitive and lonely soul, looking for more joy in her life. Yesterday she sent me a wonderful email, about a 'happiness' conference she'd attended in Australia. I hope she'll let me post it here. It seems the whole world is re-evaluating what it means to be happy--how, and why, and the vital role played by conscious choice. I don't know her well, and I haven't seen or talked to her since Thailand, although we stay in tenous touch with occasional emails. She had no idea that I'd started this blog, or that I'd named my online business Choose2BHappy. But it wasn't until I met her on that stretch of white sand that I realized what a gift it is to live with joy.

More soon. In the meantime, pay attention to what makes you happy. Notice the things that make you smile, that make your soul hum, that make you feel warm, and safe, and loved. That thrill you, that bring tears to your eyes, that make your mouth water.

And start practicing. Choose happiness.

You deserve it.