Things to look forward to

For two years now I have been a part of “The Isolation Journals” community. We are sent regular prompts to encourage creativity, meet monthly when available on the Hatch, for an hour of journaling, or being otherwise creative, and following Suleika’s journey through illness and healing.

Sometimes the prompts don’t help, and I can’t find anything in my experience to write about, and sometimes the prompts bring up such deep emotions within me that I can’t write.

Today’s prompt is to “make a list of things to look forward to. Include big things if you’d like, but also the small everyday things that buoy your spirits, make you laugh, make you feel alive.” That’s something I can do.

• Calls from family
  • random FaceTime calls from my granddaughter because she has located her mother’s phone and wants to say hi to “gramma”. She likes to boop my nose with her finger, kiss my image on the phone, and yesterday bent toward it to smell the roses in my bouquet
  • calls from my son just to see how I’m doing
  • calls from my youngest to check in on me, talk about life in general, and update me on her plans
• new photos and videos of my grandchildren
• that first cup of coffee in the morning
• birds chirping when I open the patio door to let in some fresh air
• randomly looking at my phone to find it is 8:23….the minute my first child was born.
• going for a drive. Anywhere. Just driving
• visits from the neighbourhood cats, raccoons and squirrels, and sometimes one of the hens from next door
• children’s choir rehearsals, and the growth I am privileged to watch and facilitate
• free time
• daffodils in the spring
• watching dolphins and orcas from the ferry
• solitary walks

That is just the beginning. There are so many things to look forward to.