Joy — Finding it in Other Spaces and Places

Prompt response in ‘The Brain is a Noodle’

2020 in hindsight …

The year I was to roam the globe

and work almost not at all.

Now I cannot roam abroad freely as I once did and as I planned to do.

I mask and keep safe distances because it is the wise thing to do.

And I can:

write, think, feel, look, learn, inhale and smell, taste

walk in the park, bicycle, jog on the beach, swim, hike, drive, boogie board, smell the flowers, slow down, take a picture, stare off into space

do yoga and push ups and lift weights

meditate — I’ve been meaning to start for years

get a keyboard and learn to play

smile and laugh

sing in the shower

practice my Spanish

eat healthy food

be healthy and look after myself

drink good red wine as I cook and listen to music

find new music to delight me

see and talk with family and friends

use FB and IG and Linkedin and Twitter to stay in touch and expand my circle of “friends”

surf the web

read

watch Netflix and YouTube and Amazon Prime and CNN

connect via Zoom and Facetime and phone

garden

take out the trash, clean my house, do the laundry, iron, pay my bills, take in the mail, generally look after myself and my space

learn to cut my own hair

wash my car

shop and buy almost anything I want almost anytime I want to

nap

sleep well at night and dream

dream up new ideas

try new recipes

try new ideas

consider what’s next

and

I am not bound or tortured or particularly old or infirm or beset by woes of any significance. I am free.

All this brings me joy.