The swings of life - that William Blake had it right!!! Joy and woe are woven fine....I've been feeling more and more that they truly coexist, are not even separate at all. So when I dance, i dance with my grief as much as joy. When I weep, there can also be such joy. It's just nuts being human!
Wishing you well, dear Billie. And thanks for this- clouds, popsicles, playlists that make you move, and embracing where you are. Heartbreak stinks, and should never happen and in concert with a cold should only remain in fiction. Big hugs to you both. Z has you covered in the wonder department, remarkable you for stopping and dancing in it. And wallows are good for a whole, too.💜
heartbreak does, in fact, stink. but oof can it teach us a lot (if we let it) ya know what i mean? so i'm grateful for that too--in my more serene moments, hahah. and! today we go to the passport office to get Z's passport! because we are going to go to Mexico and swim in the ocean and eat even more popsicles. so, all is well <3
Oh how I can relate to this! I was just sitting here thinking about how I feel so meh about so much and now that you mentioned your playlist I decided to open up My Happy List, instead of my Rage List ;)
loveee this. the rage list--listen, i don't NOT have a rage list too hahah, all the feelings gotta feel. i just try not to get too caught up in that one cause it gives me a stomach ache
Thank you for this beautiful post. I call a similar process hunting for glimmers — moments of joy and connection — and your embodies the spirit of this so well 💙🌈💙
aw i love the idea hunting for glimmers. anything that captures that active process of looking for and holding onto the beautiful & good this world has to offer <3
Exactly! I realized that I needed to actively make space in my mind and heart for the happy thoughts. The sad / anxious ones are way too good at muscling in and taking over. They don’t need any help from me 🤭
I love this, Billie for so many reasons. The stealing joy idea resonates so much with me right now as a friend and I were talking about asteya (non stealing) as it relates to not just physical things but also intangibles like time and joy, and not stealing those things from others and ourselves. And I love the mirror idea of this, stealing joy FOR ourselves. It reminds me of the idea of stealing away, of an adventure, of fun, of PLAYING with joy in so many ways.
jocelyn yessss omg. i don’t think you were around when i was doing my yama series (or maybe you were) but i LOVE thinking about how broadly the principles like asteya can be applied, thinking and talking about that in practice is how i first really started feeling what it means to take yoga off the mat and it fundamentally shifted how i was showing up in so many areas of my life. many many thoughts. and so glad the idea of stealing joy (time energy) etc back for ourselves resonated <3
I wasn't around for the yama series (I would have loved it!) and yes, all the yamas and niyamas can have such a beautiful, wide range of meaning and application. And yes! me too! about the yamas and when I really got into practicing them, realizing in a tangible way that yoga is so so so much more than asana-- they too were my way of integrating what I was learning in my YTT with how I wanted to be in the world, how I wanted to show up. ❤️
I feel this soooooo much. There have been so many ups and downs these past few weeks. This morning I woke up with a swollen eyelid. Not a big deal ordinarily, but today it just felt so damn hard on top of everything else. I’ll be over here finding those joys, thank you for the inspiration. Sending hugs! ❤️❤️
exactly this. i lost a parking garage ticket a few months ago and had to pay like $30 to get out of the lot and started sobbing. the little things can feel really heavy sometimes, but the little things can also feel so so so tender and precious--i want to be better about remembering both
obsessed with this. i really realllllly like slapstick and definitely am one of those watch fail compilations on YouTube type of people... haha. i also should have added to the list i recently started watching stand up! such an easy way to let the laughter in
Thank you for telling us - basement freezer and Z running upstairs- eat them on the porch on bench - housewarming gift. Clouds..
feeling so low these days- sleeping in den floor to be close to Zelda - 12th week after ACL surgery- can’t risk her jumping off my bed. Writing - my sister gone nearly 4 months…
Thank you, Billie! My own torrents of tears engulfed me this morning because I let them.; no guardrails today! A few hours later, your words insightful words appeared "i want to insist on enjoying life. i want to insist on stealing moments of joy wherever and however i can. insist on laughing through the hard and the messy and the heartbreak, because what else should we be doing? and isn’t laughter its own form of prayer?" I smiled and reached for my iPhone, turned up the volume and danced. Thank you!
a little bit wild..and a whole lot warm.. Thank you for this reminder to insist on joy, Billie. It’s never not needed. Imagined it all..the cloud and the popsicles 💜
It’s the new moon and maybe that pulls a bit of joy from us and makes us sad. I can’t say. But I do know that the stars will be brighter than they normally are and right now is the perfect time to find the dragon and so maybe even though I don’t have any time to do it really, I’ll drive further north away from the lights so I can, see Draco. It would make me really happy.
Precious. Beautiful. "...isn't laughter it's own form of prayer". Thank you for your succinct reminder - powerful, simple....sometimes so hard, difficult to do! Your examples of 'stealing joy' are gentle prods on how to be present in the moment. I begin to sense a beautiful, simple, conscious, meditative (mindful) way into that precious space of joy.
Thank you ... as I open my sideboard door and choose a vinyl record, clean the needle of the unused record player, and explore a doorway....
The swings of life - that William Blake had it right!!! Joy and woe are woven fine....I've been feeling more and more that they truly coexist, are not even separate at all. So when I dance, i dance with my grief as much as joy. When I weep, there can also be such joy. It's just nuts being human!
i dance with my grief too <3 movement is such an amazing way to move emotion through the body i love to revel in it.
Yes to all of this! Esp-“It’s just nuts being human!”
Wishing you well, dear Billie. And thanks for this- clouds, popsicles, playlists that make you move, and embracing where you are. Heartbreak stinks, and should never happen and in concert with a cold should only remain in fiction. Big hugs to you both. Z has you covered in the wonder department, remarkable you for stopping and dancing in it. And wallows are good for a whole, too.💜
heartbreak does, in fact, stink. but oof can it teach us a lot (if we let it) ya know what i mean? so i'm grateful for that too--in my more serene moments, hahah. and! today we go to the passport office to get Z's passport! because we are going to go to Mexico and swim in the ocean and eat even more popsicles. so, all is well <3
Well ocean, popsicles, and passports sounds like the perfect recipe for serenity and some giddy. Thanks for this smile! I am hearing giggles in waves.
Yes!!
Oh how I can relate to this! I was just sitting here thinking about how I feel so meh about so much and now that you mentioned your playlist I decided to open up My Happy List, instead of my Rage List ;)
Hope you feel better soon Billie!
loveee this. the rage list--listen, i don't NOT have a rage list too hahah, all the feelings gotta feel. i just try not to get too caught up in that one cause it gives me a stomach ache
SAME!! Big big SAME. 😍
Thank you for this beautiful post. I call a similar process hunting for glimmers — moments of joy and connection — and your embodies the spirit of this so well 💙🌈💙
aw i love the idea hunting for glimmers. anything that captures that active process of looking for and holding onto the beautiful & good this world has to offer <3
Exactly! I realized that I needed to actively make space in my mind and heart for the happy thoughts. The sad / anxious ones are way too good at muscling in and taking over. They don’t need any help from me 🤭
I love this, Billie for so many reasons. The stealing joy idea resonates so much with me right now as a friend and I were talking about asteya (non stealing) as it relates to not just physical things but also intangibles like time and joy, and not stealing those things from others and ourselves. And I love the mirror idea of this, stealing joy FOR ourselves. It reminds me of the idea of stealing away, of an adventure, of fun, of PLAYING with joy in so many ways.
jocelyn yessss omg. i don’t think you were around when i was doing my yama series (or maybe you were) but i LOVE thinking about how broadly the principles like asteya can be applied, thinking and talking about that in practice is how i first really started feeling what it means to take yoga off the mat and it fundamentally shifted how i was showing up in so many areas of my life. many many thoughts. and so glad the idea of stealing joy (time energy) etc back for ourselves resonated <3
I wasn't around for the yama series (I would have loved it!) and yes, all the yamas and niyamas can have such a beautiful, wide range of meaning and application. And yes! me too! about the yamas and when I really got into practicing them, realizing in a tangible way that yoga is so so so much more than asana-- they too were my way of integrating what I was learning in my YTT with how I wanted to be in the world, how I wanted to show up. ❤️
Thanks for the inspiration to make my own “get glad” playlist. 🫶
oh yay yay yay! maybe i’ll make a thread somewhere where we can all share out get glad playlists <3
That would be fun!
I feel this soooooo much. There have been so many ups and downs these past few weeks. This morning I woke up with a swollen eyelid. Not a big deal ordinarily, but today it just felt so damn hard on top of everything else. I’ll be over here finding those joys, thank you for the inspiration. Sending hugs! ❤️❤️
exactly this. i lost a parking garage ticket a few months ago and had to pay like $30 to get out of the lot and started sobbing. the little things can feel really heavy sometimes, but the little things can also feel so so so tender and precious--i want to be better about remembering both
I watch this when I need to laugh. I've probably watched it a hundred times and it never loses it's laugh power
https://youtu.be/IaKImZvTKb0?si=B79gJ8HwQqxve4Ng
obsessed with this. i really realllllly like slapstick and definitely am one of those watch fail compilations on YouTube type of people... haha. i also should have added to the list i recently started watching stand up! such an easy way to let the laughter in
It's the noise he makes when he goes down! I watched it again last night with my 7- and 8-year-old grandchildren and we fell on the floor laughing
Now, the bomb pop…there’s a popsicle for ya.
<3
Thank you for telling us - basement freezer and Z running upstairs- eat them on the porch on bench - housewarming gift. Clouds..
feeling so low these days- sleeping in den floor to be close to Zelda - 12th week after ACL surgery- can’t risk her jumping off my bed. Writing - my sister gone nearly 4 months…
Hope you feel better soon!
love you lynn--my low heart is reaching for yours and hoping we can share energy together in real life sometime very soon <3 i miss it
Thank you, Billie! My own torrents of tears engulfed me this morning because I let them.; no guardrails today! A few hours later, your words insightful words appeared "i want to insist on enjoying life. i want to insist on stealing moments of joy wherever and however i can. insist on laughing through the hard and the messy and the heartbreak, because what else should we be doing? and isn’t laughter its own form of prayer?" I smiled and reached for my iPhone, turned up the volume and danced. Thank you!
turned up the volume and danced. let's go!! reading this made me smile. and very here for the torrents of tears too. it's both, always always both <3
Love picturing you all with Z and your doing whatever it takes to make him smile. Isn't that what love is? 🩷
i like to think so--all those little moments of shared joy, or doing something just to see that person smile, that's the best sort of love imo
a little bit wild..and a whole lot warm.. Thank you for this reminder to insist on joy, Billie. It’s never not needed. Imagined it all..the cloud and the popsicles 💜
a little bit wild indeed. love it when the reminder i happen to need that day somehow resonates out and out into the world <3
It’s the new moon and maybe that pulls a bit of joy from us and makes us sad. I can’t say. But I do know that the stars will be brighter than they normally are and right now is the perfect time to find the dragon and so maybe even though I don’t have any time to do it really, I’ll drive further north away from the lights so I can, see Draco. It would make me really happy.
Precious. Beautiful. "...isn't laughter it's own form of prayer". Thank you for your succinct reminder - powerful, simple....sometimes so hard, difficult to do! Your examples of 'stealing joy' are gentle prods on how to be present in the moment. I begin to sense a beautiful, simple, conscious, meditative (mindful) way into that precious space of joy.
Thank you ... as I open my sideboard door and choose a vinyl record, clean the needle of the unused record player, and explore a doorway....