Ease, Joy and Humor Journal

Let’s capture those little moments in life where we are gliding, just for a second.

I will update this journal each night with small, cheerful moments.

Feel free to contribute your moments of joy, humor and ease in the comments below!

(Listen to my podcast about this Journal here.)

9/5/2023

• Sam tucking his nose into my left shoulder and Frodo curling into my right hip, warming me and nursing me back to health.

9/4/2023

• The kind of friends who make dinner magically appear when I’m ill.

9/2/2023

• Sungold tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, each one like a little burst of sunshine.

9/1/2023

• An art deco tower outlined against a cloudless, blue sky

8/21/2023

• Listening to my son make up a song about gardening while digging and filling his miniature swimming pool with the hose.

8/20/2023

• When a conversation with a friend feels like no time has passed. Even if the calendar says it was 31 years.

8/19/2023

• Gliding down a water slide flanked by my son and my niece.

8/18/2023

• Enjoying the intricacy and texture of a sand mandala. And then watching it be swept away. As I one day will be.

8/17/2023

• A cooperative kid at the dentist.

8/16/2023

• A prescription that’s actually inexpensive!

8/11/2023

• Trying futilely to cover the fact that David Sedaris makes me laugh aloud in public.

8/9/2023

• Dappled sunlight over a waterfall in the middle of the city.

8/8/2023

• Diving into a pit of foam. As a grown-up!

8/7/2023

• Dappled light through the library windows. A comfy couch on which to write.

8/6/2023

• The chicken wing song ending with “chili with my homies.” I mean everything else in that song is food, so it makes sense, right? LOLOL

8/5/2023

• One of the best days of our lives. We smiled and laughed all day.

8/4/2023

• Your first underwater back flip.

8/2/2023

• “Mom, it doesn’t matter if you got scared on the ropes course. What matters is us spending time together.”

8/1/2023

• The way dark chocolate ganache melts in my mouth.

7/31/2023

• Having a friend who brings an assortment of numbers so I can choose the age I want to turn. 
• My people singing “Happy Birthday” very quietly so as not to disturb the young lady singing “Jolene” on the open mic night.  😆

7/30/2023

• A moment alone, sitting under a tree, writing this.

7/29/2023

• My son’s temper tantrum finally melting away as he melts into me, his head sagging to my chest.

7/28/2023

• The warm light of a handmade lamp falling on my book and the cats in my lap.

7/27/2023

• The crispy edges of a sandwich on focaccia.

7/26/2023 

• That satisfying “pfft” your paddleboard makes when you take off the pump and you have indeed remembered to put the pin in the correct position for inflation. 😆

7/25/2023

• My son makes up a lot of songs. I love his songs but the ones he has made up about me in the past have been – well, less than flattering. Until today. He made one up and the words are “My mom glows in the dark with my heart.” ❤️❤️❤️ I’m melting…

7/24/2023

• When you were playing first base, someone from the other team hit the ball and you instinctually ran to 2nd base. You were embarrassed but I felt a warmth spread in my heart at seeing you enjoy the running more than the baseball.

7/23/2023

• Gliding through the water with my son’s small kayak next to me.

7/22/2023

• Mint chocolate chip and coconut almond chip together.
• Sitting on a shady bench at the conservatory, a handsome young man laying his head at my lap. Showing him a picture of the same scene at Central Park Zoo when he was much smaller.

7/21/2023

• Peeling apart flaky pastry layers in the dappled sunshine.
• Park of Roses

7/17/2023

• Watching a flock of doves lift off and hang in the air in front of me before disappearing into the sky like a postcard.

7/16/2023

• Sliding down a giant waterslide on a hot day.

7/14/2023

• Closing my eyes on a warm table while someone rubs aromatic creams into my face and neck. Why have a I never had a facial before? 

7/12/2023

• Being served food and beer pairings while sitting on a rooftop at sunset

7/11/2023

• Hitting “send” the first time I submitted a humor article for publication. (It was a moment of ease followed immediately by a moment of butterflies in my stomach.)

7/10/2023

• Pausing to listen to that small, still voice inside of me.

7/9/2023

• Finding that my ideal piece of cake is on the menu.

7/8/2023

• The cool breeze that came in with the rain, swept through the screened porch and refreshed the house.

7/7/2023

• When you tell someone a story and they laugh in all the right parts.

7/6/2023

• Sitting back and letting someone on stage make me laugh.

7/5/2023

• I am going a whole day without doing laundry. That never happens in any other season. It’s one of the many reasons I love summer: our clothes are smaller. The washer doesn’t fill up as quickly. Plus, when we get wet, we just walk around in damp clothes, feeling cool until they dry. It’s efficient. Summer is laundry efficient.

7/4/2023

• That moment when you realize that there are enough collective parents around that you can safely go to the bathroom by yourself.

7/3/2023

• When we stepped on the slack line I had installed and found that it worked and kept us suspended in air.

7/2/2023

• The moment when the cats and I held our breath to watch the young buck with his fuzzy antlers soar past us.

7/1/2023

• Tracing with my eyes tiny brush strokes painted on a window pane 100 years ago. An evening of indulging my architecture fetish.
• Floating on a lazy river, holding my smiling son’s inner tube.

6/27/2023

• That time your temper tantrum blew over…

6/26/2023

• Fitting into my trio like a glove.

6/25/2023

• Snuggling my son in the movie theater, tearing up in spite myself when water and fire don’t mix.

6/24/2023

• Whiskers

6/23/2023

• Laughing as I struggle to follow the exercises next to my friend.

6/19/2023

• Lying down on the carpet, taking a nap with the cats, realizing that right now no one needs me.

6/18/2023

• Finding free street parking at Cosi.
• Operating the controls to gather a scoop with the excavator, raise it and extend the jaw, watching the sand pour out of it.

6/17/2023

• Playing trucks downstairs, watching my son snap the toy garbage can to the recycling truck by himself (for the first time) and slide it up the tracks.
• Finding just the right Hot Wheels car to ease around the curves and glides down the shark ramp.

6/16/2023

• Smooth morning summer-camp drop-off.

6/15/2023

• Sunshine on my shoulders (makes me happy).

6/14/2023

• Feeling a rare ease in Canva, laying out my Adoption Story templates.

6/13/2023

• Sitting on the screened porch, working while feeling the breeze and smelling the honeysuckle.
• Making an offer based on my writing.
• Relaxing while a qualified professional does my hair. (She doesn’t dye it – she just helps the natural rainbow come out 😉)

6/12/2023

• Having a moment of inspiration about telling the adoption stories of others, stories that were hidden for generations and now can be proudly retold.

6/11/2023

• A nap. With cats on top of me, trying to prevent me from ever leaving again.

6/10/2023

• Laughing in the car after a long flight, playing hide and seek with a paperclip.
• Snuggling my cats to sleep.

6/9/2023

• Scott holding my hand and walking so close to me, in awe seeing Disneyland for the first time.

6/8/2023

• The bittersweet moment of letting the waves lap over me one last time for this trip.
• Watching my son in the window seat, looking simultaneously so grown up and so much like a baby.

6/7/2023

• One of the best days of my life.
• Watching my son experience ease the first time he stepped on a surfboard.
• Breathtaking beauty.

6/6/2023

• Sand like silk under my feet.
• Three hours where no one needed me.

6/5/2023

• Floating in the clearest blue water at Waimea Bay.

6/4/2023

• Floating in the pool, draped over an inner tube.
• Smooth transitions today – that one is huge!!

6/3/2023

• Watching my son swim for the first time, leaning in and balancing himself in the water, crawling forward with awkward motions at first and then propelling himself more and more.

6/2/2023

• Scoring an apartment in Waikiki with an ocean view AND free parking.
• Watching the sunset over the ocean and the full moon rise over Diamondhead.
• Relaxing in the hot tub.
• Empanadas with a deliciously crispy crust.

6/1/2023

• Lying on my back and floating in the ocean.
• Happening upon a running buddy.

5/31/2023

• My 5YO just took a calendar photo (above).
• Those nice ladies who let us in without a reservation.
• Hanalei: Beach or mountains? Yes.
• Clear water and perfect sand.
• Relaxing as a passenger, staring out the window.
• Warm, dry towels at the end of the day.

5/30/2023

• A monk seal swam right up to us. Poked its head out of the water and sniffed us with its wide nostrils. Looked into my eyes and pursed its whiskers. When it turned and swam away, I could have rea ched out and touched it.
• So many green turtles. So many. Resting in the sand. Using their flippers to scoot around. The beauty.
• Riding the waves back in.
• Puka Dog has veggie dogs and they are delicious.
• Tiny Lizard got easily into my cup for catch and release.

5/29/2023

5/28/2023

• Sea lions frolicking, shimmying and spinning themselves in the water.
• Watching the waves crash against the cliffs at Capitola as the sun went down.

5/27/2023

• Running from body of water to body of water
• Prickly pear lemonade from our own fruits
• Finding my son and my dad on the busy street corner at just the right moment as I circled in the car
• Ocean
• Pushing my feet into the warm sand as the sunshine wraps me
• Free loquats
• Fragrant roses

5/26/2023

5/25/2023

• Some days nothing seems easy. I guess the most ease I felt was when my son let me pet his back as he lay on his floor drifting off to sleep, still clutching a bowl in his hand “just in case.” Easier than the rest of the day but still sad.

5/24/2023

• Lying on the screened porch with cats, reading A Little Life.

5/23/2023

• Going with the flow after paddling upwind for so long. Turning our boards around and sitting down, letting the wind push us back across the lake, while Philly The Dog snoozed in the sunlight.

5/22/2023

• Good hair day! Ah, the sweet mystery of curls…

5/21/2023

• Temps perfect for both a morning run AND a day outside in the misters.
• Finding the trampoline with just the right bounce.

5/20/2023

5/19/2023

• Sam snuggled against my left shoulder, furry face against mine. Frodo under my right arm and stretched along my side. Warmth and gentle weight.
• The winter/summer clothing swap: today I unpacked a box and realized it was the last!

5/18/2023

• I struggled to locate the ease today. And then I sat on KE’s back porch and shared a Sonder Mella sour with passionfruit. Rolled the fruitiness around in my mouth and felt the sunshine. I also realized that half a beer is now my perfect amount. 😆 #aging
• On my bike, I could smell the peonies around me. The sinus infection meds have kicked in and I feel like I’m coming up from underwater.

5/17/2023 

• Sniffing my favorite variety of peonies, the pale ones with that old-rose scent. Remembering the thrill during first year I owned this house when I went to plant them and discovered they were already here.

5/16/2023 

• When my son came out of school hangry, I found that I had the last of his favorite protein bars stashed in my car console. Phew!

5/15/2023 

• Got the Wordle in 2 guesses.

4/17/2023

• Having the health and childcare to run the Boston Marathon and feel the crowd strength and energy

4/2/2023

• Early release from rehearsal
• Sunshine on my walk
• Light, fluffy pizza and a salad with lemon crack dressing
• Getting rock-star parking at a classical gig

3/31/2023

• There was a problem with my plane reservation but I got the same ticket at the same price. Still can’t believe that!

3/25/2023

• Finding a bench on the WV Capitol grounds in the sunshine and 72 degress with a view of the leathery leaves of magnolia trees and red and yellow striped tulips

3/17/2023

• That perfect hour of reading with Frodo and Sam on my lap

2/20/2023

• My door to the parking garage at Nationwide Children’s in 1 hour and 5 minutes without speeding (any more than usual.)

1/23/2023

• We breezed in and out of Columbus when others had trouble on the ice.
• Scott’s positive attitude and cooperation

1/22/2023

• Scott getting his own tooth out. He is so proud. I am so relieved that I don’t have to pull it. I have a strong stomach but not when it comes to my son’s blood! 

1/21/2023

• The conversation at dinner with Y
• Allowing myself to be treated to a lovely meal

1/20/2023

• 14 miles at a decent speed felt good!

12/26/2022

• The bike path was cleared on a snowy day!
• I had the time and health to run 10 miles.
• I got to have a drink with my dear friend JS.

_{Submit your moments of ease in the comments below or by emailing [email protected]. Need more gratitude in your life? Subscribe below to receive my top 10 things to do when things don’t feel easy.}