I hate to do it. But I have to do it. So – I’m going to do it. I’ve hit a writer’s block wall so high and so wide that I’ve struggled for a couple of weeks to climb over it or smash through it. I have 7 or 8 “drafts” of posts sitting on my laptop, waiting to be finished. They keep fizzling out somewhere in the middle. So today, I’m just grabbing for some low hanging fruit off the internet just so I’m able to produce *something* this week.
I’ll try to make it entertaining.
Have you heard of / read about / watched on YouTube 2 brothers – John & Hank Green? They have several YouTube channels, most notably “The Vlogbrothers” – where they take turns creating short videos that are current, philosophical, humorous, full of angst, and often make sometimes impossible to understand topics slightly more relatable. (They are also authors and musicians and neurotic and nerdy and why couldn’t my sister and I have done something like that? I mean, we have the humor, neurosis and angst at least!)
Today’s video was John talking about his brother’s new book, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (which, btw, is a sequel to Hank Green’s first book, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.) {Full disclaimer: I have read neither of these books, though they are on my “to be read” list. I *have read most of John Green’s books, and I absolutely recommend them.) [Ugh, another disclaimer: The Fault in our Stars will make you SOB. Fair warning.] (So far this entire paragraph has been one parenthetical side note after another. Including this one.) ANYWAY, John brought up his absolute favorite line from the book, and voila – there’s my low hanging fruit.
“You will always struggle with not feeling productive until you accept that your own joy can be something you produce. It is not the only thing you make, nor should it be, but it is something valuable and beautiful.”
You can produce your own joy. You can produce your own joy and claim it as something valuable and beautiful. How awesome is that to think about? I can find joy in writing this quick, possibly silly blog post. Why not? I obviously enjoy writing or I wouldn’t willingly sit here trying to come up with an idea.
So here we are in a country absolutely drowning in a pandemic; with massive political unrest; a faltering economy… Oh wait, I’m talking about joy. Yes, this is where we are, and yet I’m fully supporting and encouraging the idea of producing our own joy. Today. Right now. Every day. Even if it’s just 5 minutes a day.
So let’s do this – let’s make a promise to ourselves to produce our own joy. Of course, I kind of had to google some ideas (I already said I was struggling with this!) – but I was able to find some good suggestions to share:
Send a snail mail letter. Remember how amazing and exciting it was to get an email from a friend? And now it’s amazing and exciting to get actual snail mail! I’m definitely going to do this one
Watch the sunrise. Oh, this is a hard one for me. I love to sleep in. I bet being awake in the early morning of a summer day would be amazing.
Exercise!
Create something. It can be small and light-hearted, like a gnome-home! Learn how to knit or crochet or weave, if you don’t know how already. Maybe baking, or cooking.
Honestly, with the right mindset (which is the roadblock) we can make mundane tasks more joyful. I hate washing dishes. I do it with poor posture, slumped over the sink, getting it done as fast as possible. Next time I’m going to put on some music, stand tall, and sing out loud really horribly, and try to make something fun out of a hated chore. I’ll let you know how that one works out.
It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to make a difference to the world. It only has to make a difference to yourself.