A simple practice to lighten your spirit

I am fortunate to have deep conversations with women, and I can tell you they are holding so much in their hearts, minds, and bodies right now. Hardships, health issues, grief and loss, estrangement, pain, pressure, stress, fear, and uncertainty.

I believe that most of us, if not all of us, are carrying something heavy for ourselves and for those we love and support.  And that is on top of the despair and worry over what is happening in our world and in the country.

Today, I want to share with you one simple practice I’ve been doing to support and lighten my spirit. I look for and name THREE things each day. They fall into the category of beautiful, inspiring, funny, or magical.

It could be a sunset, the contagious laugh of a baby, a line from a book, something funny that happens at dinner, a reel from an IG creator, or a surprising serendipity.

⭐The key is to then share it with others. Sharing helps amplify the good feeling you are having while strengthening the social bond and connection with the other person. Sharing creates shared meaning and solidifies the memory. Can you feel how this helps combat the heaviness? Instead of 3, I'll share 4 below.

BEAUTIFUL: I read this post by my husband on FB. It’s about Ethan’s final curtain call as he approaches graduation, and how we as parents feel. And also, my husband is an incredibly talented writer. 🥹

FUNNY: I saw this post: "Depluralize a Movie."  Then I laughed out loud at the comments because people are creative and funny. Here are some I found:    Jaw     A Crow on the Orient Express   Tree Gump     Monster, Sole Proprietor    Chitty Bang      Fish of Rock    Man in Black    One Small 

Bit of Orange Fiction. 😂 Do you have one? Please tell me. 

MAGICAL: I saw my oldest friend, Angela. We met in 6th grade. She lives across the country, and I haven’t seen her in years. She was on spring break with her youngest daughter, and we got one day together.  We went for a walk and stopped in awe, witnessing a Great Egret walking on top of the hedges. I was struck by the magic of the moment. This majestic creature, my friend Angela actually standing next to me while seeing flashbacks of my friend inside the wonder on her daughter’s face. ✨

INSPIRING- I learned about the Gallaudet 11 space heroes. These were the 11 deaf men who helped shape NASA’s human spaceflight program by serving as test subjects in research on the effects of weightlessness on the human body.  Prior attempts to recreate the conditions for the research via centrifuges and zero gravity flights, test subjects would get violently ill.  Then came the Gallaudet 11. Because of their damaged inner-ear vestibular system, they were immune to motion sickness, which could help NASA collect the data needed to send humans into space. No Artemis II without the Gallaudet 11.  Here’s the story in ASL.

There, doesn’t your spirit feel a little lighter?  Try it with me today. 

Bonus points if you DM me and tell me something beautiful, funny, magical, or inspiring.  I’d love to hear.