List; Things To Be Happy About

I've been pretty sad lately, most days, more often than not, for no reason I can think of. A few months ago a lovely blog reader named Chanee recommended a book to me called '14,000 Things To Be Happy About'. I bought it for $9 on Book Depository and have been reading it before bed most nights. It is literally just a ridiculously long list of things that have made the author happy in 40 years, things like; the Dalai Lama's smile, compliments to the chef, noting the tiny details of drawings, elevators, the potential of 45,000 words per pencil, suspended overalls, eating peas with a fork, an inherited book collection, yin & yang, etc. The book doesn't necessarily fix my sads and sometimes I'm just not in the mood for it but it often it is a nice happy distraction. I agree with lots of her happy things (and I draw little arrows next to my favourites in the book) but I have also started writing my own happy things in the margins. Here are some of them:

☀ seeing old photographs of strangers and imagining/inventing stories from their life
☀ a self indulgent restaurant lunch, happily alone
☀ 30/5/11, 8pm; saw a man meditating on the side of a fountain in the freezing cold and he smiled when we rode past
☀ when your name is pronounced and spelled correctly
☀ wearing boyfriend's pyjamas
☀ the sound of a pepper grinder
☀ sleeping on a mattress in the lounge room so you can watch things on TV early in the morning
☀ porridge with sultanas, fresh nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar and soy milk
☀ tiny paintbrushes for tiny details
☀ anything that stays open 24 hours
☀ the sound of a single car driving quietly down your street early in the morning.
☀ memories of really good things eaten as a child
☀ personally witnessing a happy event in history
☀ listening for the sound of a key in a lock
☀ hand-claps and children singing in songs
☀ a charismatic TV weather person
☀ fun, genuine conversations with customers
☀ tablespoons
☀ licking a cake bowl
☀ even numbered ages sounding younger
☀ grating whole nutmeg seeds
☀ accepting a compliment
☀ pinwheels