By Caitlin Kelly
These days, who isn’t stressed?!
So here’s the latest version of my ongoing series, the one in which I look around my daily life — and maybe inspire you to do the same — to slow down, stop and really appreciate the small, simple moments that can, if we notice them, make our lives joyful.
As my very wise French friend Guillemette told me, when I was an ambitious, impatient 25 year old (OK, little has changed!) that it’s life small moments that matter most…we will, if fortunate, enjoy many more of these than those Big Life-Changing wins and triumphs.
A bowl of tangerines
Strong coffee
A pot of fragrant tea on a cold, gray, windy afternoon
A nap
Second sleep — waking up, deciding you could use a bit more of it and going back into a deep sleep until you wake up fully refreshed
A cashmere scarf, gloves and/or sweater (available through consignment shops!), so light, soft and warm
A long phone call with an old friend who knows you well
A wave or smile from a passing baby
Sending a lovely card on paper
Receiving one!
Watching “comfort” movies whose dialogue you know by heart and are happy to see for the 1000th time
Making serious progress in spin class — hitting 113 rpm (how fast one can spin) and being able to sustain 100 for more than 20 seconds. Yay!
A clear dental check-up
Fresh flowers in every room
A scented candle, bedside, to start and end every day
A book you love so much you can’t wait to dive back in
An armload of library books
My annual Public Lending Rights check, royalties for Canadian library use of my two books
Income, even a small amount, from re-selling clothes, shoes or other objects you no longer want or use
A hug, given or received
A sky full of amazing cloud formations
Getting the answers right while watching Jeopardy
The New York Times Spelling Bee
Wordle
Worldle
A gleamingly clean bathroom and kitchen
Tickets to a concert, show or museum exhibition
I think, if the past few years have taught us, it’s how to appreciate what’s within reach, sometimes within the same room, as we try to stay safe from COVID.
Broadside 
I’m partial to butter rum but, any flavor you like, that’s a wide selection of life savers. Good onya for taking care of yourself, and for showing us all how you’re doing it. Don’t stop now. Okay, stop as soon as you can.
LOVE butter rum. What a memory.
Like you, I so enjoy life’s simple pleasures. I am also a fan of second sleeps, fresh flowers and a well made piece of clothing or something special for my home.
Small but lovely!
I find that I enjoy a nap as well. Especially these days.
I’ve got to have a nap, pretty much every day. When I wake up, all the junk that roils my mind wakes up with me, and if I don’t pump the brakes with a power nap once or twice a day, depending on circumstances, I’m on track to be a real bastard all day.
Naps are the best!
They are so restorative!
Though I sometimes have the weirdest dreams from them.
The little pin that says courage is a recurring element in your blog. I have wondered about its meaning, beyond the obvious. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Now get back to work.
Impressed with your spin class numbers!! 113 is way fast! Good for you!🚴🏻♀️ I never get up to 100 despite consistent exercise for my entire life.
Thanks! I figure the bike is broken!
I am now able to do 100 rpm for 30 seconds, so that feels good….I’ve been at it a least a year.
Always enjoy reading your simple pleasures, Caitlin. Some of mine are sharing hilarious memories of high school with an old friend I’ve known since age 13, my fireplace in the winter, the birds in my backyard, getting (too rarely) an actual card or letter from a friend, finding drop off locations to responsibly dispose of packing styrofoam and scrap metal that accumulated in my basement, lovely Japanese textiles from eBay that I’m about to hang on my walls.
oooooh, Japanese textiles! Am mad for Asian things.