What Brings You Joy?

I don't have the most exciting day to day life. I work in an office 9-5. I don't work with a team so, I'm usually in a cubicle in a corner with no windows, by myself. My family is very middle class, we don't own a home (or much of anything else!). We live in the San Franicso Bay area which is one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S. Depending on how you look at things, everything can be turned to a positive - my job is a boring 9-5 job but, I have a job - many people still don't. California is expensive but, it is one of the most beautiful places to be.

Sometimes though, when you're just trying to make your day to day ends meet and your kids need braces and your car needs tires and the cost of a gallon of milk is the same as a gallon gas, well appreciating what you have can be kind of hard. I'd like to start creating posts about what brings joy. I'm going to try every Monday to post something that has to do with joy. Monday is a good day to do this and, I think, a good way to start the week.

I would love to hear about what brings you joy. Sharing is caring! It could be anything - a word, a picture, a memory, a scent, an action, a song, a random act of kindness. Explain as much or as little as you want, post links, pics, anything, or just read what others have to say. Follow the blog or not, the point is to bring joy, a little or a lot. What brings you joy may be totally different than someone else. And, that's the beauty of it. Please join me in the launch of Joyful Monday!

I'll start with this:
Halloween + Trick or Treating = Joy

Since Halloween has just passed, I'll start with this one. When I was a little I wasn't the smartest or most athletic kid on the block. I was painfully shy and I sometimes got picked on. I didn't have a miserable childhood. I had friends and a very loving family. But, I was very tentative about initiating things or talking to people because I was always afraid of what they would say or think about me. Except on Halloween. First off, I got to be anything I wanted and nobody cared. The kids that did pick on me were too busy with their own Halloween goings on to worry about me. I wasn't shy about trick or treating cause everyone else was doing it too. I really remember how excited I felt to go out on Halloween night, dressed up, trick or treating with my sister or my friends and trying to find the scariest houses in the neighborhood and being totally happy, blissful even. The smell of my pillow sack full of candy was heaven! And to think I had weeks maybe months of a candy supply!

I stopped trick or treating after 8th grade. Halloween changed for me after I stopped trick or treating. I'm not sure how. I still loved Halloween and dressing up, I still do! I guess it's a little like when the tooth fairy stops coming. Maybe, it has to do with that "passage into adulthood". A little of the magic disappears. But, I still have the memory and the smell of a bag of candy still brings me joy.