Find the Joy!

A few years back, maybe more than a few years ago, I had two granddaughters that started to come to our house every summer for a long weekend. Mariah and Naomi are now in their early 20’s, they called it Camp Grandma, a term I got from my kids going to their Grandma Rings. Camp Grandma was a way of connecting with grandkids when they didn’t live very close to us. We would spend some time playing games, doing things they didn’t have access to in the small towns they were from. We would go out for one fancy dinner, when we had a house with a pool in the backyard, we spent most of Camp Grandma poolside. Each year we would get different colored T-shirts with the kids’ names on the back. It was always fun, no matter how many kids could attend. I think the record was 9 kids at a time. Yes, Grandma was one tired chick after that one.

Suddenly there was an explosion of kids, lots of grandkids, we are up to 18 now. Seems there might be a few more in our future. (wink, wink, hopefully) Slowly with everyone's busy schedules Camp Grandma ended. Also, have you ever tried to keep up with 5 eleven and twelve-year-old girls in one weekend??? I will tell you it’s overwhelming. Grandma needed a vacation after that one! 

Camp Grandma was always a great way to connect with our grandkids that lived at least a few hours away. We would still skype occasionally, one of our grandson’s called me TV drama. Unable to say his g’s he knew me as the grandma that was on the TV, that is how they viewed their skype. I have always been grateful for the technology; we would have had a difficult time staying connected with these kids without it. My grandparents were so important in my life, I wanted my grandkids to at least know who I was. I couldn’t offer the comforting lap, the delicious pancakes my grandmothers delivered, I needed to do something, and Skype offered that something. 

Now in this time of pandemic I feel like I need these little humans in my life more than ever. We have created Sunday story time, it started with Mark and I reading to the kids, now the kids are doing some of the reading. It is delightful to hear their squealing, excited to have some screen time maybe, but time to see their cousins, aunts and uncles and of course Grammy and Bumpa. These times are hard, we need to look for the silver lining, story time is just that. Just this morning I spent some time with Mataya, age 7 doing a zoom meeting as we explored the Minneapolis Institute of Art. We made a list of things we want to see when she comes to Grandma’s house next time. Hopefully, this summer. 

When times are tough, and these are tough times for us extroverts that are missing our families, we must find new things that bring us joy. We are in this together and on the other side of it hopefully we will have stronger families because of it. 

#findthejoy in everyday

Leap Day

This is the day that I wrap up my winter, officially. I believe March is the gateway to spring. This is my last, oh woe is me, I live in the cold day. No more bundling from this day forward. This doesn’t mean it won’t be cold, this just means the bitter sub zero temps should be gone until hopefully, hopefully December.  

In March the sun stays in the sky a few minutes longer. The high and low temps rise a bit. The birds start to come back. The birds coming back is a good sign. It’s as if they know just when it’s safe to start hanging out again. I am going to take a cue from the birds. It’s time to get outside again. 

I am calling my March my get down to business month. It’s the month I will hit my stride for the year. My intentions are to move forward with my 20 for 20 goals. I will complete my first road race of the year this month. I restarted a water color painting class to get my creative mojo going. I am sure there will be hiccups this month, but the intention is to stay on track. Seems I need an intention to make things happen.

Today is our bonus day. Leap day gets our calendar back in order. Let’s use it to get ourselves back on track. This is also a great day to think about the bonuses we have in our life, call them blessing, call them your joy. February 29th is the perfect time to count them, feel them and live them. I am using this day to say we survived another cold winter. So much to be thankful for, so much joy in our lives. 

Let's get to work, time to get focused and use March as the “spring” board to a successful and joy filled 2020!

20 for 20

Inspiration comes in many ways. Some would ask why are you looking for inspiration? Why can’t you just live? Do you really need a list? The short answer is yes, I need a list and if I want to live my best life, I need to be inspired.  

Let’s face it January is when we get serious about resolutions. We clean up our act or at least make a list of desires for a good outcome this year. I think it’s safe to say most people don’t stick to their resolutions. That doesn't stop people from declaring a plan for the upcoming year.

It is popular to find a word or a phrase of the year. I like this idea, something that can guide you or pull you back on course as you get further away from your goals or from what you want your life to look like. 

I typically feel compelled to come up with some ideas at the beginning of the year that I intend to follow. A guideline to a successful year, or my intentions. I may just be trying to avoid the term resolution.  This year I will choose joyful, that may have been last years word, but then again the word might have been focus, we all know how that went. I love the word joy and joyful feels like it is doable. If allowed a secondary word, I am going with determined. I am determined to be joyful.

I follow many podcasts, one of my favorites is Happier with Gretchen Rubin. You may be familiar with her Four Tendencies or the Happiness project. The Happier podcast with her sister includes a yearly plan of intentions,  18 for 18, 19 for 19, etc. I like the different ideas they come up with all intended to make them happier throughout the year. They review them at the end of the year, honestly reporting how they did with their list. 

I find that when I try to live with intention, I do the things that I really want to do, the things I maybe should be doing (cleaning out the storage room) get left behind. There is joy in a neat and organized storage room, but the task seems daunting. I have two options, two days of taking everything out, throwing, giving away and reorganizing the things I need to keep. Or muddle through another year of trying to get organized. I have not decided on which method will fall into my joyful year but organizing the storage room is back on my list.

The entire 20 for 20 list is set. There are some lofty intentions, but I am ready for the challenge.  I am sure there are a few things that will remain on the list undone. That’s fine, it doesn’t have to be 100%. I will give it my best effort.

I hope to find joy by sticking to my plan. The clean closet, the writing I will get done. The simple pleasures are just what make up the moments of life.  At the end of 2020, I hope I can reflect back and be pleased with my progress. Excited about living for the day, using the list as a guideline but removing the stress of feeling like things are not completed. I am ready to dive in for a joyful year. January will be the reset. Let’s do this. Happy 2020!

For more on the 20 for 20 listen to the Podcast Unpredictable, you can find it on ITunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud.