Next week is Mental Health Wellness Week, and here at Aura 32, our theme is ‘Happy Place’ this week to raise awareness for it. Of course, I want all you lovely ladies and gents to feel well about yourselves, and I will admit, it took me a while to think of something to write about that would do that. (Yes, I’ve been suffering from an extreme case of writers’ block.) Anyway, I decided to write about happiness.
It’s been difficult for me to think of just one happy place; in fact I don’t think my happiness stems from a place at all. I think it comes from small acts or events in my life that can and do happen everywhere. I originally thought to write about a universal happy place, somewhere that all 7 billion of us would feel content and at peace, and I couldn’t. Happiness isn’t a place.
What I realised was the importance of small things that make us happy when we’re down, not just being happy all the time. I realised the need to have bad things to have good things, much like we need darkness to have light. I would rather be uplifted by something when I was feeling down than never feel a sense of uplift or downfall in my life. The way to be happy, for me, is to immerse myself in the little things when I’m sad. Sadness gives me a gateway, or an opportunity, to be happy. I came to discover a huge number of tiny, tiny, everyday things that just made me smile or giggle for a few seconds; things, I feel, I really value.
Without the little things in life, we wouldn’t have smiles from strangers on the street, or somebody ahead of you in the line already paying for your food. Things we take for granted actually give our lives huge amounts of meaning. The things we really, really take advantage of, are the things we never really consider: The Little Things. Of course, we sometimes look upon our houses and clothes and education and think how lucky we are, but we never really think about how lucky we are to turn on the TV and find your favourite movie just about to start. These one-off events are the things we thrive on.
The Little Things have become a new and improved concept to me, making me see how intricately detailed and full of jewels of joy my life can be, every single day. Small salient moments are always occurring and we only ever take notice of half of them, I’m sure. I’ve come to realise, over the course of writing this, I am always rewarded with a small act of kindness or a sunny day when I need one the most, and I think that is what happiness really is: the way that life always seems to give you a little glimmer of happiness, a little glimmer of hope.
Without the little things in life, we wouldn’t have smiles from strangers on the street, or somebody ahead of you in the line already paying for your food. Things we take for granted actually give our lives huge amounts of meaning. The things we really, really take advantage of, are the things we never really consider: The Little Things. Of course, we sometimes look upon our houses and clothes and education and think how lucky we are, but we never really think about how lucky we are to turn on the TV and find your favourite movie just about to start. These one-off events are the things we thrive on.
The Little Things have become a new and improved concept to me, making me see how intricately detailed and full of jewels of joy my life can be, every single day. Small salient moments are always occurring and we only ever take notice of half of them, I’m sure. I’ve come to realise, over the course of writing this, I am always rewarded with a small act of kindness or a sunny day when I need one the most, and I think that is what happiness really is: the way that life always seems to give you a little glimmer of happiness, a little glimmer of hope.
I know this article has been slightly all over the place, but I just want you all to think about something this week: The Little Things. Think about how many good, happy, positive things you see and experience every day and think nothing of. Think about all the times you’ve felt love or selflessness from someone you didn’t expect it from. Think about the moments that nature has never looked so much like a postcard. Those are the things that we must take and turn into emotion. Happiness is not a place. Happiness is a multitude of moments all rolled into a jumble of memories. Remember them today, and maybe you’ll feel a little happier than normal.
Here are some things I retrieved from my jumble:1. Cake Boss re-runs on TLC
2. Aloe Vera juice
3. Shannon Saunders’ acoustic version of Creatures
4. Warm rain
5. Waking up 5 minutes before you alarm goes off
6. When you leave school on a Friday
7. ASOS
8. George Daniel’s drumming faces
9. The sound laptop keyboard’s make when you type on them
10. New shoes
11. Halloween
12. Compliments
13. Black clothing
14. Preteen comedy films from the early 2000’s
15. Harry Styles and Kate Moss
16. Songs that you can’t not dance to
17. A good night’s sleep
18. Sam Smith’s voice
19. Symmetrical eye makeup
20. The smell of your clothes when they’ve been freshly washed
21. Getting a hug from someone taller than you
22. When someone laughs hysterically at your joke
23. Breakfast for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
24. Getting an unexpected letter in the mail
25. Fluffy rugs
26. Just chilling with loads of family members
27. The feeling after you exercise
28. Jumping on bubble wrap
29. Really awesome dreams
30. A sunset on the beach
31. California rolls
32. When your plane lands
33. The first time you sing all the words to a song perfectly
34. Seeing old friends
35. Parties
36. A good photo-op
37. Beautiful views
38. Early morning hot chocolate
39. Baggy sweaters
40. Those little loving moments you have with your best friend
41. When a song understands you
42. Poems
43. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
44. A really, really amazing playlist
45. When Jay Z and Beyoncé perform together
46. Anna Wintour
47. Home videos of people falling
48. The first Christmas song of the year
49. Egg fried rice
50. Alone time
How about you?
Written by: Lucy Hodgkin
Photo 1: Fred Tougas
Photos 2-4: Lucy Hodgkin
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