Little Happinesses on a Monday (In Writing and Life)

Sometimes, you just have to stop and remember them.*

1) The smell of coffee after you haven't had any for a week.

2) Getting a really nice review in your inbox first thing in the morning.

3) Reading a funny book (Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott).

4) Reading a really sad book that touches you so much you have nightmares about it (Alligator Bayou, Donna Jo Napoli).

5) Bringing a long story to a close.

6) Realizing as you research that your final paper isn't as boring or hard as you thought.

7) The good salad is available in the dining hall (with craisins and raspberry dressing).

8) Seeing friends again after spring break.

9) Wearing shorts.

10) Wearing sunglasses.

11) Seeing your name for the first time in the newspaper next to "copy chief."

12) Coming back to sleep in your twin sized bed where you can't get lost in the blankets (I prefer a smaller bed, call me crazy).

13) Listening to music and drinking tea.

14) Deciding to reread Harry Potter from start to finish after three years of letting the books collect dust on a bookshelf.

15) Meeting someone new.

16) Going into the main stacks of the library and actually knowing where the Africa section is this time (it's on floor nine and a half; who'd have thunk?)

17) Having just one class and having the lecture be on black holes in outer space.

18) Sleeping in.

19) Smiling.

*Make your own list! (I needed one - I have a gigantic outline for my final paper due on Wednesday and I might be pulling close to an all-nighter tonight because I work the rest of the week so I am firmly determined and equipped to be cheerful and relaxed about it all day. Stress is completely unconducive to anything, and I firmly believe you can choose to let yourself be stressed or take it all, as Anne Lamott says, bird by bird.)