Joie de vivre

 Image source: A Butterfly By Day

It's a phrase that is music to my ears and food for my soul. Joie de vivre is a beautiful concept and it rolls off the tongue in a way only French words can. It's a phrase that translates as the joy of living but can be seen as a joy of everything - a joy of food, a joy of simply being, even a philosophy for life. To feel and experience a little joie de vivre every day and radiate a little of it is no mean feat, but if I can do that in this lifetime, I will be proud.

After a few hectic days at work finalising a large project and dealing with a frustrating supplier, I am not feeling as if I'm exuding as much joie de vivre as I have in weeks gone by. When stressed, it's easy for me to forget all the lovely things happening in life. That knot of anxiety that comes to live temporarily in my gut really makes it hard to remember all the little things that make my heart sing. It would be so easy to list all the things that zapped my perky tune this week. Although harder, the task of recalling the things that actually made my heart sing this week is so much better at banishing the negative vibe. Here's what I came up with:

• Walking out the front door each morning and returning each night to see the freshly painted front fence
• Recalling the lovely sunny days spent in the front yard on recent weekends to paint the said fence and chat to passing strangers
• Spontaneously getting to spend Saturday with a friend when she offered to help me find a dress for my cousin's wedding
• Dreaming of the wedding and the few days I'll spend with my family on Hamilton Island at the end of the month (oh joy!)
• Spending a few hours after work curled up with my book, enjoying some quiet, relaxing time without the TV on
• Cycling to work on the grey, wet Ride to Work Day, beating the rain and whizzing happily through the neighbourhood
• Remembering how cheeky of one of my little brothers is and how much I loved playing with him when he was a little bubba (while scanning photos for his 21st)
• Catching glimpses of my new watch and remembering TBBITWWW who gave it to me (the best boy in the whole, wide world, in case you didn't catch that!)

Quelle joie de vivre! Happy weekend everyone. May there be joie de vivre within and around you.