Joy For The Hard Times
Sometimes life runs you over like a freight train.
Hello! :) I’m Nospheratt, and this is Joy Every Week -
a weekly quest to find joy in everyday things.
Do you know how life sometimes runs you over like a freight train?
Like a very, very high tide rushing over your head until you lose contact with the ground and get dragged under?
Well, that’s an accurate picture of my life the last few weeks months. And on top of everything that’s going on (maybe/probably because of it) I’ve been carrying some kind of cold around (not covid - I got tested) since… *checks calendar* …October 03.
Anyways. Hello lovely subscribers, I bet this was the fun content you were expecting when you subscribed, right? 😆
Fear not. I will be back, actually definitively back home next week, and we’ll resume our weekly joy quests properly.
And since November 5 is terrifyingly close, next Friday I’ll be sharing strategies to cope with election stress and the fear of not knowing what’s coming. We’ll take a look at how you can develop a personalized protocol for dealing with extremely stressful days and weeks.
In the meantime, please enjoy some cool stuff I’ve written.
😫Help, Everything Sucks
If you need help with the hard times right now, take a look at these:
How To Find Joy When Everything Is Terrifying
Where and how do we find anything positive, let alone joy, when everything feels beyond fucked? When we’re close to feeling completely, utterly hopeless? When we’re scared shitless?
It feels impossible sometimes. Pointless.
But it’s not - joy is not only possible, but necessary - that’s why we’re here.
And here’s what we’re going to do.
How To Manage Your Doom Intake
So, everything is fucked everywhere. We have an unending, non-stop barrage of bad news. And worse news. And *not-as-bad-but-still-bad* news, to fill the gaps between the bad news and the worse news.
We need some magical way to keep up with the news, without falling into the doomscroll river.
Except, of course there’s no magical or even easy way to do that.
It’s going to take a bit of work and practice. A practical guide to deal with doomscrolling.
The Art Of Finding Hope Every Day
How do we find joy at the other side of doomscrolling?
Using the time and space left for things you enjoy and add to your life, in place of things that waste away your patience and your health. Here's how.
I’ve made a page where you can find all the “find joy when everything sucks” quests and guides here: Joy When Things Are Hard.
🍂Cozy Joy
And, in case you missed them, or want some lighter quests for joy, here are some of my favorite:
The Joy of Everyday Rituals
Ritual is one of my favorite things. Not in the religious sense (I don’t belong to any religious, well, anything), but something like this:
“Using rituals to feel like you’re at home in the world, in time” - that’s exactly why I love them.
I’m not talking about complicated things, at least not necessarily. Some of my favorite rituals are elaborated and take a lot of time, like Xmas; but others only require a few minutes, like opening the windows and preparing my mate in the morning.
Cozy is something you do, not something you own.
I absolutely love this concept: cozy as something we do. Yes, you can buy fancy candles and new pillows and expensive tea. But those objects are devoid of meaning; what creates coziness, safety, comfort, belonging, are the hands that light the candles, fluff the pillows, brew the tea.
It works just as well with the same old pillows and your usual tea.
Like I’ve said before, you’re the one that gives meaning to things; the passages of the seasons are some of my favorite spaces to enjoy ritual and find meaning.
How To Create a Joy Box
The mission: to gather things that give you joy, so you can access that joy easily and as frequently as you want. Or need.
The mere fact of that box existing can act as a reminder to reconnect with your joy on a daily basis; and having it ready to go is specially helpful for when you’re tired or stressed out, needing to hide away, distract yourself or decompress.
So, read the instructions & ideas, think about what you want to add to your box, and take it easy. One step at a time.
That’s It For Today!
Thank you so, so much for being here, for reading, commenting, clicking on the little ❤️ to tell me you liked my work.
For not giving up on me. 🥲
I see you, and I appreciate you. I hope the warmth from my heart can reach all the way to where you are, right now. 💜💜💜
See you next week. —Nospheratt
Oh no, colds are no fun at all! Rest up, friend. I hope you feel better soon, and I'm always so happy to get little doses of joy from you.