05 March 09

6 Things That Make Me Happy

Ms. Tiffany Brown tagged me in this. And I was going to say “Gee, thanks, but no.” And then I realized I was being negative. And even though I’ve been home for two days now with no appetite (oh this hurts my soul like you wouldn’t believe), eating bland food (again with the soul pain), and feeling grumpy, I realized that there really are a lot of things in my life that make me happy. And I want to focus on them more than I have been in the last year or so. So with that said, in the interest in banning the negatrons in my life, here are six things that make me happy.

1 Boos and Bella really do make me happy. There’s been a rare bad day when a churkle, or a head-bump (totally of the feline terrorist kind), or even a paw on my cheek don’t make me melt a little and get all cooey and cuddly. These two “fur-babies” (as someone likes to call them, make me very happy indeed.

2 Making food for other people. I occasionally get the chance to cook for myself, but it is the chances I get to cook for people I love and care for that make happy. Food is wonderful, glorious gift and it is one that I treasure, cherish, and appreciate. Last week I had the opportunity to work with a couple of other Gapers Block staffers to create some soups for something called Soup and Bread at The Hideout. The idea is that people make soup, bring it in and anyone can show up to eat it and donations are raised for the The Greater Chicago Food Depository. And I was really nervous that people would hate the soups (one of which was from a recipe of mine). But it was thrilling to see people take a bite of tomato soup and say “wow! this tastes like fall!” and someone else took a bite of Robyn Nisi’s Italian grandmother’s chicken noodle soup and said “Oh man! This shit is amazing!” And it wasn’t my recipe, but someone else nearby said “You can tell they started with chicken broth and not water. That’s the secret, man.” I felt great that night, same as I do anytime friends eat what I make for them and seem to like it.

3 Solving problems. Could be any kind of problem (still working on poverty, sexism, and racism, by the way) but I love finding the solution to it. This usually means that I figure out how to automate something at work, or I streamline something. Or, and my favorite, is when I am working on a purse pattern and finally get it to come out right. Recently I was able to work up a bag that has been in my head for a year. The details of how to add the zipper and what kind of strap were throwing me off along with how to shape the bottom. But I got a great s-curve ruler and figured out the bottom and eventually the rest fell in line.

4Twitter Seriously, I love this site. It’s making me very happy. Not only have I been able to connect with people I have wanted to know better, but who I rarely see and who rarely blog, but I’ve had a relatively safe place to vent about minor daily unhappinesses and get support from people who care about me. And I’ve not historically been good about telling people I need support, but I’m trying to get better at that. And now that I’m combatting negatrons, I’m trying to stop complaining there so much. If I know you in person, or know you well enough online, I’ll let you see my protected tweets. If I don’t, then prolly not. Sorry.

5 Friends who gently encourage you to get out of your comfort zone. There’s tons of people online who have challenged me over the years and I’m honestly grateful to all of them. Even the guy who called me a “stinky-eyed stripper” and made me laugh really loudly. But I’m blessed with friends who push me and gently smile when they see that I’m pushing myself. Naz encourages me to stretch my design-sense and makes it seem much less scary. Jen encourages me to look at all areas of my life to find the waste and trim it out. Roni just gives me a sideways mouth twitch when she knows I’m being lazy about thinking and writing. Brandy is great at pushing me to be truer to my own vision of my life instead of letting the influence of others sway me. Jenni pushes me to remember to take care of myself instead of putting aside my needs constantly for the benefit of others. And oh heavens! So many more people in my life who see promise in me when my vision is cloudy and just nudge me back on track. And Andrew, too. He pushes me to be the person I say I want to be on a daily basis.

6 Hand-knit socks. I’ve only made myself one pair, but I have yarn to make myself more and really want to have a week where I do nothing but watch brainless television and make socks (I should have done that a few weeks ago, I guess). But wool hand-knit socks that can be thrown in the wash are fantastic. I have extra-sensitive tootsies so most thick sock have the purl side against the bottoms of the wearers feet. Those little loops slowly end up rubbing my feet raw so I end up limping at the end of the day. Because I could make my own socks with the knit side against the bottoms of my feet, I now have a glorious pair of comfy hand-knit socks that don’t make my skin raw, keep my always-cold toes warm, and look pretty cool, even if they don’t match.

And now is when I’m supposed to tag other people. But I hate putting pressure like that on you. So, if you’ve got 6 things that make you happy, go ahead and share them.

Comments

  1. Cinnamon,
    I found you on LinkedIn and thereby discovered your blog. What a pleasant surprise to discover you have a blog and a side business. I have been wanting to start my own business for a couple of years—custom wedding invitation design and greeting cards. I have been doing it on the side, but never really went full fledge into it. I have a few blogs myself. I have been on hiatus from my main blog—Jorjah-B. But I am still quite active in my photography/writing blogs.

    I plan to visit your blog more. I have been browsing through it. It’s so fun to discover and see a new side of you. I hope we can stay in contact—perhaps even meet for tea some time, since we live so close.
    :)

    -Georgia

    — Georgia on Mar 7, 11:51 am

Commenting is closed for this article.

  ·  


(c) Cinnamon Cooper / Poise.cc