What gives you joy?

[babasaclover]

A fun one to brighten the mood on yet another rainy day.....

Day in day out for me it's my car. I like looking at it thinking about it, obviously driving it. It gives me irrational joy. Even when I'm at work and can't see it, if I see one similar I smile. I think the fixation has to do with my adhd

What makes your day better that others don't feel the same about?

• Being alone with nature. Sadly that's increasingly difficult. My local woods have been hacked down to make way for a new housing estate, and at the other end of the village a second massive estate is being built. Also, instead of birdsong you now hear the screeching of souped up car engines and the exploding/backfiring of modified exhausts.
• Art galleries. Last year I'd had a bad week and felt really low. That weekend I went to London and visited the National Gallery. I came out floating on air. I literally felt like a different person. Art really does heal. Not a fan of modern art though. I'll stick with Turner and Monet.
• Books. In particular re-reading my favourite books (P. G. Wodehouse, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, etc). I also find reading out loud cheers me up – especially Dickens and Wodehouse.
• Walking by the sea on a bright, cold, sunny morning.
• Beautiful buildings (cathedrals, churches, Georgian mansions, etc).
• Coffee shops. I don't drink coffee, but I love the smell.
• Dogs
• Flowers
• Silence
• Bright, empty spaces
• Good, kind people. At the risk of sounding like a New Age twat, some people really do have beautiful souls. And it shines through in their face and their eyes.
• Walking in the sunshine or laying in a bath listening to audiobooks. Stephen Fry reading Sherlock Holmes or P G Wodehouse is close to heaven. Right now I'm listening to him read his book on myths.
• Learning languages. I'm pretty hopeless, but it gives me pleasure.
• Watching old BBC dramas – Cranford, Pride and Prejudice, Colditz, I Claudius, etc.

That'd give me joy too. I'm single and only occasionally hear something that makes me feel I'm missing anything!
☕️

Gardening - I love to grow stuff!
Planning a holiday - I love finding nice places to stay and to eat and things to do there.

These are so nice! mine are

-a pub lunch after a walk in the countryside

-being clean/showered/shaved/moisturised/hair washed and getting into bed with clean sheets

-when I have nothing to do and can watch old
comfort tv like only fools and horses and Jonathan creek with a cup of tea and good snacks

-when a tv series I’m watching is really gripping and I can’t wait for the next episode

-family dinners at my mums house

-getting lost in a Marian Keyes book

-Saturday mornings when we don’t have to get up early and DH brings me a cup of tea

-Christmas

Being outside in the spring sunshine in nature (it was sunny here today). Feeding my bird family each morning. A French patisserie!

Also my lovely family and dog obvs

'My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky.'

Dance classes, cups of tea, a tidy house, the smell of fresh laundry, my bed, hugs and chats with my teen.

Being in the outdoors- especially when I see wildlife.

Clouds, the sky, the beautiful things the sun, moon and stars do.

My dogs.

The colours when I’m chopping loads of veg.

Erm, having a beautifully clean house that I didn't clean, and an ordered flourishing garden that I didn't cultivate.

Watching my Foster Son play cricket on a sunny day. Especially if he takes a few wickets. A lovely picnic. A stroll around the ground. A drink in the clubhouse. Just lovely and in my world nothing is better.

My plants. My huge bookcase that I made and all my lovely books on it. My collection of natural things, sea shells and rocks etc. Listening to a podcast.

Sunrises, sunsets, hearing the birds tweeting on a morning

Cheese

Hanging everything by category on the rotary washing line on a sunny spring morning.

I especially like putting the boxer shorts in a row with the elastic end to the left and the right leg corner to the right.

Some of my pegs remind me of events and places in the past and I like to think of them as I hang everything out.

My dog - he is pure joy. He doesn’t care what we do or where we go as long as he’s with me

Babies (not just my own!)
Dogs happy in the park
Smell of freshly mown grass
Smell of freshly brewed coffee
Beautifully shaped trees
Blossom, flowers
Scent of roses
My children playing together happily (fairly rare)
A favourite book that smells familiar

Having a meal and get together with my family, kids and their partners.
My cat and my dog. Seeing how peaceful my cat is, curled up, asleep. Training my dog, bonding with my dog. I just love him.
Natural light and it's changes, especially fading as it approaches sunset, or before it rains/there's a storm.
A real fire/my woodburner
Eating a wholly unintentional tea, as the best bit was ready before the main, so I had a whole packet of dumpling mix, cooked to perfection in my air fryer-dunked in salted butter, with red wine and Red Leicester sliced cheese on the side.
My home and driving towards it. Always.
My bed.
Reading
Knowing I am free to drive me and the dog, away in my converted van, whenever I please.

My kids and baking.

Thats about it.

The first cup of tea in silence, before anyone wakes. Walking in the woods, spotting a squirrel, hearing the birds. Sitting in the garden, with a cup of tea, feeling the sun on my face. Sitting around the fire with my kids having a chat. The dog asleep on my lap. A lovely sunset. A barefoot walk along the beach.

Coffee and really nice sweet pastry. Sadly hard to find such in the UK

My kettle is see through and lights up blue when it boils - small please, I know, but I love it .

More generally good coffee, good food and travel.

I cannot tell you how happy I feel right now, thank you for sharing all the lovely things with me. I identify with so many of what you've described.

Sometimes I am mocked for being so easily pleased, but as someone who suffers with depression, when I am on an up, I really want to celebrate being on that up, thank you for helping me ❤️

I too like walking my dog when there's nobody about. Sunshine on my face and breeze in my hair.

The smell of my pony.

Also, going into the library in the dead of night when nobody else is about. Makes me feel like a child in a toy shop😆

Tucking both my children in at night and staring at their perfect faces for a while... note when they are asleep 😂

Oh, and coffee! The smell, the taste...just heaven🥰