it occurs to me: i'm happy

finding joy in difficult times

It occurs to me as I’m striding up the street, bundled against the cold (-17 C/wind chill -23) on a Friday morning in January, returning home from a walk and solo coffee people watching stint…i’m happy. i’m listening to M. Ward’s cover of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and I’m not even noticing that I’m swaying whilst waiting for the traffic light to turn to green.

So yeah, I’m happy.

Charles and I are spending lovely time together. We’ve simplified our lives significantly, getting rid of almost everything we had to pay for except the essentials, or changing to cheaper services where we can, and I’ve opted out of many long-term self-imposed, time-consuming (for good and enriching reasons!) commitments.

This week, we’ve been playing Cribbage and board games in the evenings. Last night Charles’s orks and archers vanquished mine in Lord of the Rings Risk, which we own, for reasons we can’t remember.

Let it to known that I won in Cribbage. Charles beat me at Scrabble. I just like to put down words that excite me…like..vinyl and bestow.

I was going to write a post about the pleasures of board games, but we haven’t played them in a long time. What I noticed this week is that my dreams have been vivid, especially after playing LOR Risk, which I really suck at - not being strategic, but we’re going to play it again!

Jung wrote in the Red Book that when adults play, they return to their childlike state of play, and this inspires creativity. I’m probably paraphrasing horribly, but that’s what I took from a wonderful episode of CBC’s Ideas.

So we are playing. And it’s fun. It’s time away from the screen. That’s really helping reduce my anxiety levels.

Our financial woes are scary, but we’re coping. This is life for many people. But I feel fortunate to have love, good company, friends, my writing and creative work, a safe place to lay my head and food. It’s a good life.

Feel free to subscribe, either as a free or paid subscriber, if you like occasional and sporadic posts about finding joy while broke, but not broken, sporadic, writing-related updates and reminders about my editing service.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the Substackers (is that a word?) who I’m enjoying these days:

Wake Loire offers lovely life writing and whimsical prompts.

Draw Together with Wendy Mac: insights into making art - i find them useful for writing too. Plus I’m a doodler!

Poetry Today with Maya C. Popa: poetry and wonder, what more could you want?

Vittles, a food and culture magazine based in the UK and India. Incredibly well-written magazine with various guest writers. I love food and hearing about food is a close second to eating it. Most recently I read a post on gastrodiplomacy by Dan Hong about how embassies in Taiwan, Thailand and other countries are marketing influence through food.

I read Substack early in the morning when I’m awake but not yet ready to start my day. I’ve learned so much and started to make some interesting links between these writings and my own creativity. I am enjoying being part of this Substack community.

Stay warm, stay safe and stay creative, friends. If you think anyone else you know might be interested in reading my words, I’d be very grateful if you shared my Substack with them. And if this post resonates in some way for you, I’d love to hear from you.