Joy
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Lick the Spoon
Contentment is our natural state and we should be using every moment of our lives in order to get back to it. In society, we complicate our lives, distract ourselves from stillness, and take ourselves further away from that state of joy. Ask yourself what you can do each moment you feel clouded with anger,…
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Whispers
Where do I go? What do I do with my life? Who do I spend my time with? How much do I need? What is the point? We often yell these questions in our heads. But the answers are never yelled back. The answer is always, always, whatever brings joy to the body and the…
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Underneath Our Noses
Wake up every morning thinking that this day, this next chapter, is going to be more beautiful than the ones before. People are waiting to teach us something, people are waiting to learn from you, and love is waiting to be shared and given. Joy is right underneath our noses. Just breathe it in.
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Brillo
I should give all the shine I give others to myself. If I did, I would enjoy every moment and so would the world.
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Wait For Gold
You miss out on more by moving too quickly. You miss out on good meals by eating whatever is in front of you without thanking the food and becoming numb with pleasure. You miss out on good conversation by walking past people and assuming they have nothing to offer you. You miss out on good…
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Requirements On The Camino
The Camino de Santiago is a place where there are very few requirements of you. On the Camino, you are only required to sleep, eat, and walk. With very few belongings and very small steps, we can walk hundreds of miles. And it makes you realize that there are zero other requirements of you as…
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Bad Banana Bread
I want to be a baker. I literally and figuratively tasted the joy of baking while working for a chef in Argentina. I felt the joy of working with my hands. I tasted the sweetness of sugar on my tongue. I had unlimited opportunities to make something beautiful with very few ingredients and little time…
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Falling In Love
Falling in love feels like the specific color purple of the clouds during a sunrise. Falling in love looks like the blue stars and red lightning bolts that you see in your eyes during a kiss. Falling in love makes you say hello to the flowers and talk to the spiders hanging on their webs.…
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Giving Love
The times when I am the happiest are the times when I am giving love and receiving love from others. Staring at a lover in the eyes, resting a hand on a friend, playing instruments in a jam session, sitting around a fire together, sharing a secret with someone. I feel complete by myself, but…
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The Forms of Joy
Say good morning to the plants. Listen to the music the birds make in the morning. Say “buen provecho” before every meal and “salud” before each drink. Sip your coffee slowly. Give yourself or a lover a massage. Dance to music, and sing the lyrics. Talk to your future or younger self and do it…
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The Right to Enjoy
On the Camino to Santiago, a Spanish nun once told me that we all have the right to enjoy life. To enjoy every moment, no matter what. And if she’s not right, then who is?!
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Laughter
The times when I think people are impeding my time alone, to “think,” are actually times when I need to listen and take advice from others. You have the rest of your life to be alone. The rest of your life to think. Every moment with someone else is a sacred encounter. You can see…
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Eyelashes & Shooting Stars
We’ve stopped wishing. We’ve stopped grabbing eyelashes that fall on our cheeks, blowing out puffy flowers into the wind, watching for shooting stars, or checking the time for 11:11. Why not wish? If worrying is like praying for something bad to happen, then maybe wishing is praying for the good. Let’s keep looking for eyelashes.
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Cutlery
Oh how cutlery has rid us of the pure joy of eating with the spoon of our palms, the forks of our fingers, and the knives of our nails.
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Cherry Jam
The joy of being alive is baking sweets and making jam from freshly picked cherries. The joy of being alive is singing around the campfire and listening to the strum of a guitar. The joy of being alive is the purest form of love that a mother gives to her baby. The joy of being…
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Deer
What if we just stopped thinking so much and just felt? Animals eat food and stay healthy without thinking, and some have brains the size of peanut shells. The ability to think and analyze and control and predict the future and imagine has made the human race rule the world. But it has also destroyed…
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Rainbows
She is so busy looking for the best seat to watch the sunset, constantly moving around to find a better view than the last, that she will never see the rainbow that has formed right behind her.
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Presence
The heat of the sun beams down on her back. Mountains surround her. The air is cold and crisp. The days have been cloudy and rainy up until this moment. She is so afraid that a cloud will come between her and the sun and take her warmth away that she doesn’t realize that there…
Ali Walks Around 