Dropping in with the first collection of things that made the world beautiful! These lists will be my weekly compilations describing things that made the world a little brighter, a thought-filled reflection/conversation, design/creative inspiration, and lastly a prayer to leave you with. I’m so excited for this journey to share!
Cheers to more conversation, community, savoring life, and experiencing more!
Three Things that Made the World Beautiful Last Week
I saw bumble bees last weekend. The promise of spring and allergy season has arrived! As a budding gardener, I’m really excited to see bees out and about in my area already. We’ve been spending lots of time on the porch and out in fresh air.
On a girly note, I braided my hair a lot over the weekend and it brought lots of childhood nostalgia. Felt summery, felt fun, felt fresh, felt like I needed to scroll Pinterest for new French braid patterns (iykyk).
Sunday night tea time. My husband and I have been having peppermint tea every Sunday night as a final close to the weekend/start to the week. Sunday scaries have been real, and thankfully, he reminded me that we still needed to have tea at 10:00pm because we forgot. That was beautiful to me.
Conversation: Joy Inventory
For this week’s topic, I want to talk about joy. Yes, joy!! Double exclamation point joy!! But sometimes, what we think and know as joyful, isn’t actualizing in our day to day. As I was winding down one night in prayer and meditation (I'm really trying to work on this), I heard the nudge so clearly: “Have a dance party to start your day tomorrow.”
First I thought… what?!?! Then I thought, “easy enough, I love it, sounds like fun,” and I went to bed. Thankfully, I remembered this nudge in the morning and turned on some music as I was getting ready for the workday. What a win!
I found that it was SO HARD. Something that has always been easy for me to find joy in and do was painfully difficult and definitely not joyful.
Wake up call!!
Why was it so hard, what was wrong? I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed my wide eyes and state of shock. I thought about it for a bit and realized that I haven’t been refueling on the things that fill me with joy. I haven’t been paying attention to what I’m consuming in the way I probably should. I’ve been taking life too seriously. I haven’t been truly joyful in a while. I’m thankful for that not so dance-y dance party.
Now, I’m trying to think more intentionally about what fills my cup. Framing this as “Joy Inventory” with 1. what fills my cup, 2. where is the cup leaking, and 3. what drains my cup of joy. A little bit of do more and do less - understanding what those balance points are. Boiling the big shocking feelings down to something simple and tangible.
Though this feels a little self-help-ish, my hope is that the changing of the seasons invites us all do a little spring cleaning and “Joy Inventory.” Maybe it’s a good reminder to keep listening and reiterating our lives (example a: Camille Collective). Maybe it’s a nudge to do something you love that you haven’t done in a while. Whatever the case, what’s your dance party moment? What fills your cup, and what drains it?
Let’s have more double exclamation point moments and share them with others… often!!
Creative Fuel
Notes:
stripes | refreshing color | seasonal florals | travel | neither here nor there
A Prayer to Share
For joy:
May the Lord continue to nudge you towards goodness and joy that is unique to your life. That your cup be filled with abundance and balanced with honey. To fully enjoy the sweetness of creation and share (and rest) in joy with those that you love. May we live in and for the goodness and glory of God.
Amen!!
Thank you for being here, friend! Please subscribe to my weekly collections and if you feel so inclined, pledge for a future subscription. Go make the world beautiful (!!)
xo - Cam