What's Bringing Me Joy

Joy can be found in some of the most surprising places

Hi friends,

When I write these newsletters, I write the body first and then go back and write the opening and closing paragraphs. This newsletter started out with the title “What’s Saving My Life,” and I realized after writing the body that the title was all wrong. Because of where I am in my life, I’m past all the usual things that make one feel like they need something to relieve the daily stresses in their life. I raised my kid, I retired from a 40+ year career, I’m in reasonably good health, and since moving to Texas in 2010, I’ve been fortunate to prioritize saving for retirement.

A Modern Mrs. Darcy blog post first put this concept on my radar. Barbara Brown Taylor seems to be the catalyst of this thought-provoking exercise that many do in their own life—she is religious and answers this question from a faith-based perspective in the video linked above. I’ve seen others who are not at all religious answer it in their own way, and both provide some wonderful ideas of things that you might want or need in your own life.

Because books and reading are such a huge part of my life, my list is heavy on those things, with a few other things that also spark joy. Most of these things I enjoyed before retiring, but they have taken on a different meaning since retirement, and I can honestly say I’m loving my life.

• When I lived in California, I loved many different brands of sourdough bread. Since moving to Texas, I haven’t been able to find any of those same brands or any that are sour enough until I stumbled across Izzio Sourdough Bread at my local Kroger. This has become my go-to breakfast and also my occasional snack of choice. Yum!

• I presently have five bookish Patreon subscriptions that produce hands-down some of the BEST bookish content on Patreon. The communities are fun, kind, full of bookish goodness, and a delight with every piece of new content. In alphabetical order, these communities are Book Gang, Book Talk, etc., Currently Reading Podcast, Strong Sense of Place, and What Should I Read Next.

• I created a new cleaning and laundry schedule after I retired, so I no longer spend all weekend doing those things like I had done all my life before retiring. Now, I spend less than an hour daily on cleaning and laundry, and I have a reasonably clean house all the time, which leaves me feeling good, and my weekends are free for fun things.

• I love reading newsletters—I subscribe to way too many. The threads and comments section on three of them provide hours of reading and going down rabbit holes, as well as vibrant, kind communities.

  Culture Study
  and
  Men Yell at Me
  are Substack newsletters that provide this content via a paid subscription, and both are worth every dollar spent. Cup of Jo is a long-time blog by Joanna Goddard, and the comments section of the posts are mandatory reading and life-giving. Her more recent Substack newsletter
  Big Salad
  has become a must-read for me and is worth the price of a paid subscription, too.

• This one gives me more joy than I ever thought possible! I discovered the parks and trails system in the town I live in, and both have provided many hours of walks in the morning while it’s still cool enough to walk outside in Texas. There is a 10.5-mile loop with several parks and lakes, and even though I can’t walk the entire loop in one walk, I found all the entrance points and have walked the entire loop three miles or so at a time. The wildlife is fun to watch around the lakes and streams, and the wildflowers put a smile on my face and many pictures on my iPhone.

• I have no desire to do anything that resembles “work” anymore, but I’ve enjoyed volunteering with organizations that are important to me. I’ve written about volunteering at the public library and the Friends of the Library bookshop, and my latest volunteering endeavor has taken me to the League of Women Voters. I’ve wanted to get involved in politics in a non-partisan way, and the LWV allows me to do that. I’ll let you read what it’s about at the link above if you are interested, but I joined to volunteer at events and on high school and college campuses, registering voters. It also offers community (which I crave at this stage of my life) through monthly get-together lunches and a book club. What more could I ask for?

Sometimes, the smallest and simplest things in life can bring joy and make you feel better when it matters most. We usually know what is causing us stress and strife. Because of the stress, we may not recognize what gives us life. Depending on where you are in your life, have you ever thought about what’s saving your life or what’s bringing you joy? What things, big or small, are making your life just a little bit better? I would love to know what those things are if you want to share them. You can tell me about them in the comments below.

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If you are interested in the concept of “what’s saving my life,” here are a few links to others I enjoy reading or listening to. Some are faith-based, and others are not, but all are rich in content, comments, and rabbit holes:

• This is a regular feature of the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog, and here is the landing page for several posts over the years. The comments section of each post is a goldmine.

• The Cultivate What Matters blog has a post in 2023 asking this question.

• Emily P. Freeman of The Next Right Thing podcast does an episode a few times a year on her podcast.

• If you aren’t familiar with The Lazy Genius, now is a good time to get familiar, not just for the podcast episodes about “What’s Saving My Life.” Kendra teaches the Lazy Genius principles through her books and podcast, and although each episode is not always relative to me, I find myself listening to several of them. A few podcast episodes addressing “What’s Saving Her Life” are episodes 311, 331, 340, 343, and 356. There may be more in the archives—these are from the last year or so.

There are so many more links to this topic—too many to list here; if you want more, try searching for “what’s saving my life,” and enjoy the riches you’ll find.

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Bookish Fun Fact

While Latino literature has existed for ages, Latino Books Month celebrates its twenty-year anniversary in May 2024. The celebration of Latino literature began as a designation of the Rhode Island Latino Arts Association to encounter exciting new reads in Spanish and English. Latino literature gained popularity during the Civil Rights Movement, leading to students demanding Latino studies classes on college campuses. The celebration during May each year encourages “booksellers, librarians, and teachers to promote books by and for Latino people and urge their communities to read these books.”

That’s enough of me gushing about my joy; don’t forget to tell me what is bringing you joy or saving your life. Have a great week. Happy reading!