5 Things That Inspired Me In August

How the practice of noticing joy through the month increases my joy

Turning 50 in June inspired me to begin a new spiritual practice: simply making note of all of the different kinds of art, nature, and community that inspire me through each month. Many of us experience time as ‘moving too fast’ and especially after living through the Groundhog Day-like experience of the pandemic when days and weeks blurred together, we may need a way to distinguish one month from the next. Reaching this milestone age, having survived cancer, and continuing to live well with a chronic illness, I feel an urge to savor my time on earth. Capturing and reflecting on the external elements that lead to my spiritual and emotional growth is helping me to do just that.

I keep an ongoing list in my journal throughout the month and then enjoy reflecting on my favorite experiences at the end of the month. It takes some discipline for me to pay attention to the ways that I experience joy, pleasure, and satisfaction — like so many of us, I’m more naturally inclined to get caught up in what is broken in the world and the ways that I’m still in need of healing.

As I deepen this practice, I am reminded that I have a choice to notice what is amazing in the world, in nature, and created by us humans. To pause and appreciate. To notice how I’m healing as I invite more joy into my life. The practice of adding to my inspiration list lifts my spirits, gives me energy, and makes me curious about what I’ll discover next month.

Take a look at my list, join me in September if you’re inclined. I would love to hear what’s inspiring you at the moment!

Film: Summer of Soul. If you haven’t had the opportunity yet to watch Ahmir Questlove Thompson’s documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, watch it as soon as you can. I viewed it twice this month — first with my husband and then showing it another time to my 84-year-old father and 15-year-old kid. We all loved it immensely — this truly transporting film that takes you, through original footage and contemporary interviews, into the experience of being at the festival that celebrated Black history, culture, and especially music. It’s breathtaking — and I loved introducing my music-loving kid to artists like Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples whom she hadn’t listened to before.

Book: Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing. Memoir is my favorite genre and author Lauren Hough captures her incredibly painful and unusual childhood growing up in a religious cult and her experience of coming out as a lesbian after being bullied and having her life threatened in the military in the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Era” with deep honesty, humor and courage. Hough’s writing is insightful and unsentimental and her resilience deeply inspires me. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

TV Show: All Creatures Great And Small. This show had been on my list to watch for a while and I’m glad I watched it this month; it was a soothing escape when the news of the world felt so incredibly heavy. Many of us are familiar with British veterinarian James Herriot’s books about his life and work in the 1930s which had been made into a popular PBS series in the late 70s. This new PBS adaptation is stunningly beautiful in both cinematography and acting.

Nature: Mint. Specifically, the delight of the mint pictured above that I discovered while walking my dog. What a generous, simple way to share abundance with neighbors…a sign to say, here’s our mint, take some with you. I never got around to planting mint this summer after my own patch had dried up after last year’s drought and I took up this invitation with joy and brought some of that mint home for my iced green tea. Thank you, neighbor — next year when I plant my mint patch, I’m going to do the same.

Something Else Amazing: My new Dreaming the World to Come planner. Next week begins the new year, Rosh HaShanah, as we count it by the Jewish calendar, and I am delighted to have discovered and purchased this brand new planner (pictured here) that not only shares calendars of the year to come but places to write, journal and dream, inspired by Jewish spirituality. I feel like this planner was created for me and I am grateful to the artists who put so much thought and care into its creation. I am already using it to put my intentions for the new year out into the world!

I am wishing you a new month full of discovery in the delights of the world around you and in your interior landscape. Please share what’s inspiring you in the comments below!

Thank you for reading! Sign up for my enews here for opportunities to explore writing and spirituality in online workshops. I look forward to connecting.