Five for Friday: Little things bringing my life loads of joy
Five joyful things in life right now, inspired by an exercise in Tammi Miller's brand new book, Paperback Therapy
I had a successful blog a long time ago. I say successful because it had a decent number of dedicated readers; it got me some really cool perks; and there was paid advertising on it, so it was kind of a side-hustle before I knew what a side hustle was. (Before you laugh, bloggers in 2008 were what influencers were in 2018, and even though I am increasingly veering into de-influencer territory, I still get a hit of dopamine from other people’s good content).
I stopped blogging when it started to feel less like fun and more like work, but for the time that I did enjoy it, one of my favourite segments was a series I called Five for Friday, where I shared five things (sometimes categorised, sometimes not) I was loving that week.
This week, inspired by my own misery and my friend Tammi Miller’s brand-new book Paperback Therapy (a compendium of therapist-approved tips + tools to help manage your mental health), I’ve decided to bring it back, because it’s the kind of content I love to read and share, and you never know what you’re going to come across (a new bakery; a good book rec; a new nutritionist with doable recipes to follow).
But first, a note on Miller’s version: In Paperback Therapy, the certified practising counsellor offers loads of tips on mastering emotions, managing interpersonal relationships, maintaining boundaries, dealing with life’s lows and so much more. In an exercise she calls Five Joyful Things, Miller encourages us to “remember the wonderful things in life” when we’re feeling low by writing down five things that bring us joy. These things “should be easily attainable and not dependent on anything external, such as another person or loads of money”.
I find exercises like this really good for bringing me back to my inner self. I’m so easily distractable, prone to falling into the optimisation sinkhole, and am an emotional shopper + eater, so getting back to my basic joys (I thrive in natural light, tidy environments, with some alone time and a little sweet treat, wearing clothes I love, etc) is really good for my mental grounding.
Still, my substack/blog version is a little different: It’s about me being grateful or glad about five things each week - like a weekly gratitude practice - and one that might lead others to things or places that might bring them joy. Sometimes those things will be completely frivolous, like the five things in my wardrobe I have never regretted buying, because there’s a lesson in those too.
Oh, and the best part of a Five for Fridays post is the implicit invitation to comment with your own happy moments or cool recs, because we all need a little dose of extra joy as we head into the weekend.
Hope it’s a good one!
FIVE LITTLE THINGS BRINGING ME LOTS OF JOY RIGHT NOW
Moroccan glass bee tea set: This was recently gifted to me by a long-time friend who ummed and ahhed on it a while, because although she knew I had way too many tea cups / sets (I actually donated most of my collection a while back, but kept gifted items), she wanted to gift me something with a bee on it because I reminded her of the “humble bee”. Reading the card outling why was really interesting because a couple of years ago I randomly started getting into cutesy bees (it might have started with a Gucci mary-jane that had a gold and pearl bee buckle that I really liked), but so is how frequently I actually use this teapot, despite it being so delicate (and despite my penchant for switching my sets up). I sent my husband saying it was ironic it had bees on it because it was so “industrious”: serving up my brew on the daily and being a central part of the non-negotiable, *aesthetic* timeout I give myself in a sea of working-mother chaos. This week, I’ve been having my tea breaks with a serve of these strawberry oat bars and a read of my favourite substacks and the recently-relaunched Australian ELLE. (Side note: the pink desk fan is also a joy, and really handy when eating chilli noodle soups.)
Harney and Sons Paris Tea: A big, bold claim, but this could possibly be my favourite tea of all time. I discovered it by accident on a thread while in some google rabbithole about what a Paris Fog was, and it’s my cup of choice nearly every single day. It’s a black tea lightly flavoured with vanilla, caramel and bergamot, and it smells and tastes amazing. Each tea bag makes two cups of tea, but I am the only one in this house who drinks it, so I have turned into one of those thrifty ladies who reuses a teabag and that makes me feel very economical, even when I am on the couch looking at $1500 shoes I can’t afford and don’t need.
Putting up my Easter wreath (inside!): I don’t remember Easter decorating being much of a thing when I was growing up, but capitalism turns everything into a money-making pursuit. I managed to resist the bright but gorgeous decorations for a long time, but the first covid lockdown made the Lent and Easter season very lonely, so I joined others in putting a palm on my front door on Palm Sunday, which I kept there until Easter. Aesthetically it wasn’t much (you could still see the sticky tape, lol) so a couple of years later I decided to work on a decoration that was a little more permanent, but that reflected the season in its entirety. Easter is tricky because Palm Sunday is happy, and Good Friday is sad, and then Easter is happy again, so I wanted something that was both solemn and joyful. Naturally I wasn’t going to find something that nodded to the real meaning of the season for Christians, so I made my own. This year I decided I wanted to hang it inside my house, because I wanted to enjoy it more, so I did. Here it is on the back of the front door. I’ll add fresh greenery when Lent has passed and we’re in the non-fasting, new life-season of Easter.
Three Women on Stan: I just started watching this, so if you’ve seen it already and think it’s terrible, remember I am not that far in. But there’s something so great about watching an adaptation years after reading the book: you’ve forgotten everything and it’s like indulging in something completely new. Plus, my TV life is non-existent right now, unless you count Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures and Little Angel as scintillating viewing.
New cook books: I love, love, LOVE browsing through books by home cooks, but I actually don’t like to own that many: I usually cook by feel, am more than often in a hurry, and I tend to only use about 1/4 of recipes in a book because I can be a picky eater. Occasionally however, I will come across someone who makes me want to make every recipe in their book, and Alison Roman is one of them (Skye McAlpine is another - she’s got a new, on-brand substack here). I bought her book Sweet Enough when I was in a sad mood and I swear it cheered me right up. I also recently picked up chef Phil Khoury’s A New Way To Bake after attending his launch (I’ve also interviewed him a couple of times) and am literally gobsmacked at the number of desserts he has adapted for plant-based eating.
