Small Joys

Product Information

It’s a great way to start or end your day by thinking about even just a few of the things you’re grateful for. A beautiful, moving storyof love, male intimacy, chosen family, and finding self-worth.” —Paul Mendez, author of Rainbow Milk Having freshly shaved legs AND freshly washed sheets on the same night… Is there really anything better? Small Joys is one of three books featured at our New Voices 2023 event at 12pm on Sat 29 April, Methodist Church. Elvin will be joined by Monica Heisey ( really good, actually) and Georgina Moore ( The Garnett Girls) and the event will be hosted by Joe Haddow. They say that things and ‘stuff’ can’t bring you happiness, but I would beg to differ to a degree. Simple joys that are more temporary and transitory in nature can still lift your spirits when you need or it help to keep you afloat day to day. There’s nothing wrong with that. Ways To Introduce Simple Pleasures

Now it’s time to create your list of simple joys in life that make you smile. I’d love to hear some of them. Six years ago I was going through a stressful time in my life. A mentor of mine suggested that we read through One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. I really really enjoyed listening to this book. The interesting thing about listening to audiobooks is that it is simpler to just focus on the story and not the prose, and that is just what I did here. I could not tell you if it was beautifully written throughout, but there were certain parts that were lyrical and really moved me. That's a bad way of putting the matter, because it flattens Muddy out. He's lovely, and his affection for Harley helps Harley open himself to friendships with Chelsea's BFF Noria and Muddy's abrasive, obnoxious, but ultimately decent best friend Finley.

I use social media for two main reasons: 1) to stay current on important work-related information and 2) to look up local garage sales and random household items for sale in the local buy/sell groups.

Honestly, it is quite hard to describe Small Joys by our guy @elvinjamesmensah, though I suppose its title really is the perfect summary of feelings lingering here. We met weekly to talk about the book and challenged each other to come up with an increasing number of things we were thankful for and write them down in our gratitude journals. We hope this list will inspire you to find joy in the everyday moments and be grateful for all the good things that life has to offer! Many issues are covered in this book, including race, sexuality, mental health and suicidal thoughts but all are dealt with delicately and with a tenderness that really sets it apart from other books. Elvin James Mensah is a name that we will be hearing a lot of in the future and I can't wait to hear him discuss his work and writing process at this year's festival. Have you ever noticed that when you are car shopping you suddenly notice a lot of certain types of cars on the road? When you increase your level of awareness of a particular thing, you begin to notice more of it even if it was something that was there all along.Drifting off while you’re reading (or watching Netflix) on the couch is one of the best feelings out there. There’s no pressure for a serious sleep so you can just get comfy and enjoy dozing off in the sun. 18. Being told you look good. I was thrilled to have a story focused on a queer character but not on romance. Even without romance, this story was overflowing with love, tenderness, and affection. Muddy and Harley's friendship was moving in every way. Muddy was an incredible character who flipped the heteronormative male friendship trope into something incredible. Small joys are what I’ve come to appreciate the most since my life shrunk with chronic illness and pain. Instead of constantly mourning the big things I’ve lost or can’t have, which is so easy to do, I’ve tried to appreciate the little things. We can find joy in the ordinary and peace among the chaos. It’s challenging but so worthwhile to try, whatever your health or situation. Here’s a look at what small joys are and how they can benefit our day to day life, symptom management and overall wellbeing. What Are Small Joys? Here are some of the benefits I experienced from creating that list of simple joys. Get out of the comparison trap

There are a variety of ways you can begin to notice the simple joys in your life. The following tips will help you to make it an ongoing practice in your life. Slow down Corina Diez from Random House Publishing Group offered me an eARC of this book, and I’m so happy that she did because I’m not sure if I would have requested this book on NetGalley. I loved Elvin James Mensah’s descriptive and lyrical writing, and the story felt really personal to me. I am eagerly looking out for Elvin’s next novel! According to Buettner, the concept of ikigai is not exclusive to Okinawans: “there might not be a word for it but in all four blue zones such as Sardinia and Nicoya Peninsula, the same concept exists among people living long lives.” Appreciating the items I love in my bedroom, including the little family of succulent giraffes, zebras and elephants I seem to be building This is an incredible story about caring for others and finding a place where you are wholly accepted. Harley's internal dialogue was familiar to me, and that definitely helped my enjoyment.

there are those rare bird moments (😉) where a book reveals a world you weren’t looking for, but now it’s where you crave to be. A gratitude journal is simply a place for you to record different things in your life that you’re grateful for, and the act of writing in the journal forces you to focus on what you do have, instead of what you don’t have. When I was initially creating my simple joys in life list, it felt challenging to come up with my goal number for that week. However, the longer we continued to practice it, the easier it became and the more things I noticed. How to Notice the Simple Joys in Life

Chronic illness, chronic pain or other disability can all have a way of shrinking our lives, reducing and restricting what we do, what we have and who we are. They can take a lot from us, things we may never quite stop mourning for. But this dystopian shrunken life syndrome is not totally irreparable and we can find our groove without necessarily drowning in that loss.

Become a Member

From cosy hygge moments to happy little things that make you smile, hopefully these little joys of life will bring you some comfort on difficult days. You don’t even need to spend anything to enjoy some of these little joys – just take a moment to appreciate them and bring a little bit of quiet happiness to your day. So here it is – our list of 39 of the best little joys in life. Hasegawa points out that in English, the word life means both lifetime and everyday life. So, ikigai translated as life’s purpose sounds very grand. “But in Japan we have jinsei, which means lifetime and seikatsu, which means everyday life,” he says. The concept of ikigai aligns more to seikatsu and, through his research, Hasegawa discovered that Japanese people believe that the sum of small joys in everyday life results in more fulfilling life as a whole. Many thanks to @scribneruk @simonandschusteruk for the arc via @netgalley. Small Joys was published this month and is available on audio on @scribd.