Do you have advice on living more in the moment and enjoying the small things?
i think it’s basically as simple as noticing the little moments when you feel content, registering what you’re doing at that time and then doing it more
however i’m not one for writing a simple answer when i could write an essay so here we go
+ i used to post “three good things” every day on my personal blog and getting in that habit really helped me change my outlook. even when i’d had an utterly shit time i had to dredge something good up from the day in order to keep up my streak of posting three good things, and it helps you effectively “discard” the bad things. it could’ve been something really small like a nice sandwich or clean bedsheets; it doesn’t matter as long as you think of something.
+ i think part of it is getting rid of the notion that every minute of every day needs to be productive; the little things i enjoy are sewing, listening to audiobooks, baking, studying maps, listening to podcasts, watching netflix, and it’d be so easy to feel guilty about the minutes i spend doing those things instead of housework or job applications etc, but it’s so so important to keep that time in your day
+ likewise, stop tying food with guilt! gosh! adult life kind of sucks and you need to be able to fully savour the little pieces of chocolate and biscuits and warm bread you eat along the way without feeling bad about it
+ i think working on being a more “forgive and forget” type person helps because you can’t let grudges and annoyances ruin the little joys in your life. if you’re feeling worked up but the other person hasn’t done anything major or something they need to apologise for, extract yourself for a second to cool down and move on so you’re not just thinking of it for the rest of the day
+ maybe work on replacing the time you spend mindlessly scrolling social media with something that’s more hands on and tactile, that gets your brain in gear, and that you genuinely get joy from. i find social media to be more force of habit than genuine enjoyment, so i try to take breaks where i don't look for a few days and instead do some of the stuff i mentioned before
+ get outside! if you’re feeling like everything’s rubbish and you’re not sure why, it might be because it’s been ages since you had fresh air. you don’t need to go climb a mountain or run a marathon but try visit somewhere where you can see the sky and some scenery and just take it in.
+ when people say “small joy and big joy are the same” it’s not to discourage you from having goals or to say actually, going on holiday or getting that promotion are a waste of time. of course not! they might make you really happy too and it’s nice to have things to look forward to! you just need to not be so forward-facing that you ignore or discount everything that happens before then. you need to also be able to look around and appreciate what you have now, in your hometown, in this body, in this job, in this house, and not assume that happiness is waiting round the corner once you make those big changes.
