Simple Joys

I've had a wonderful saturday off. The sun was shining, I listened to one of the CD's I just made with all the Leonard Cohen music I've been downloading. Now I'm in the chatroom with my great friend, and typing this post.

This morning I began the day with yoga (I haven't been able to start my days with yoga all week because of work). Then I went out to the library and borrowed a handful of books. I wandered through a second hand/antiques store and chose a few things I'm hoping to buy in the near future. There are all sorts of cool things in that store. Some are expensive (for me), like the old fashioned dressing table with an attached mirror. I don't have a dresser, and would like one just like this one because it reminds me of the dressing table I had when I lived in my childhood home. Other things are affordable for me now, though I didn't buy anything today - like a black antique umbrella with a carved handle (so cool), and an antique doll with beautiful cracks in her painted face, a little wagon with a double handle, and some sort of a tool that I imagine was used by shoemakers - it's a metal pole about two feet high, with a foot shaped top ... I imagine shoes were eased over this foot shape so that the shoemaker could work on the shoes. I'm a collector of antiques, but not fancy ones. I like antique toys that have some damage, to show they were actually used. I don't care about their monetary value, I'm interested in their history - in the fact that they were used all those years ago. I never spend a lot of money (since I don't have any, lol). In my apartment I have an antique sewing machine that actually works, and an old toy wooden goat on wheels. I have a toy polar bear covered in what looks like angora, and a 100 year old book of piano sheet music. I have a pair of wooden shoe inserts that fold up and a super heavy rotary phone that's probably from the fourties or even the thirties. I have an old wooden homemade children's chair that I found in the forest when I lived on Texada Island, and a pair of tiny antique scissors that I dug up in my garden when I lived in the house on Vancouver Island with x. I just love old things.

On my way home I stopped at the grocery store and bought a cart full of food. I've always enjoyed grocery shopping by myself. I like to wander up and down the aisles, choosing fruits and vegetables, ingredients for baking, a few things for snacks. I tick off items on my list as I go. Only trouble is that I don't have a car, so I have to cart all the groceries home on foot. Sometimes I struggle home with five or six heavy bags in either hand. Other days, like today, when the stuff is just too heavy, I push the cart all the way home. I must be a funny sight. The cart is always wonky, and tries to zoom out onto the road. And when I go over patches of sidewalk that are all gravelly and potholed, my cart zigs and zags all over the place. I take care to go slow so that I don't crack the eggs in my cart! I enjoy putting away all my groceries into the cupboards and fridge. There's something very satisfying about having new groceries.

I've noticed that some of the simplest, everyday things bring the greatest joy. These are some of my favourite things:

- wandering through the library, choosing several from the 'new book' shelf, and a few others from the poetry/short story section. Most people turn to the first page when selecting a book. I like to read the back or inside the front cover, to see what the book is about. Then I turn to the middle and read a few passages, just to see if the style appeals to me. After that I might read a bit from the beginning, but often I don't. It doesn't take me more than a few minutes before I have a stack of books. Sometimes I'll sit for a while in one of the comfortable chairs in the library, reading one or two of my selections. Other times I take them straight to the checkout counter and leave the building. I'm sometimes disappointed when I'm back home, settled on the couch, or in my bed, reading, only to discover that the books I chose are not what I had envisioned. If I had taken a bit more time in selecting them, I would have put them back on the shelf. Other times I'm thrilled to find that I've stumbled upon a wonderful find. I absolutely Love to read great books! The feeling I get when I dig into the first from the stack of library books I've placed on my night table is just fabulous. It's like Christmas morning.

- baking and drinking at the same time, on a summery evening. I just love those evenings when the sun is low in the sky, the day has been warm and people are out in the streets in their summer clothes. I have my sliding porch door open, and my music playing. I'm all alone, but not in the least bit lonely. I mix my special drinks with vanilla flavoured vodka and a fruit smoothie, and I get out my recipee books. I've been known to bake several types of buns, muffins and breads, all in the same go. So much I have to put most of it in the freezer. But it's fun. It's a great time.

- playing my piano for hours on end. I have so many piano books, I'll never run out of songs. I play from books that I used when I was in my final years of piano lessons, and sheet music that I've downloaded from the internet. It's time I bought something new, but even with the old stuff, piano playing never gets boring for me.

- spending a day writing a new story or some poems. Even editing my older works. I just love it. When the words flow, and I read them back outloud, it's just heaven. I love to write as I'm listening to music. I have certain CD's that inspire me for certain types of writing. The lyrics and the inflection in the voice of the singer, and the instruments, all combine to aid me in what I am writing that day. When I go back over what I've written, and find that I'm as moved by my own work as I am by the music, that's just bliss.

- wandering through alleyways with my camera, taking photographs of old brick walls, and fences, broken down people, and store window displays. I lose myself in the art of creating pictures. Often, when I begin to feel that it's time to quit and go home, I'm surprised to find that hours and hours have passed and I didn't even notice. It's so exciting to hurry home with a memory card full of new pictures, anxious to see what I captured. Then I plug in my camera to my computer, and wash my face while the pictures are downloading. After it's all done, I sit at my computer and watch a slideshow of my new photographs. How cool to have a brand new folder full of pictures to photoshop, that I didn't have before, and all for free!

- spending a day taking photographs of myself indoors. It's quite a process. I apply my makeup, according to the mood I'm trying to capture, and fix my hair. I get out any clothes or props I need. I set up my lights. I set up the backdrop material, or move furniture out of the way if I want to use a certain wall. Then I take a few test shots to check if I have the lighting and the camera set correctly. After loading the test shots into my computer and going over them to see what I need to improve, I figure everything out (hopefully) and then spend an hour or sometimes five, taking pictures of myself. I take nudes, and emotives, and portraits. Towards the end of the shoot I tend to feel a little tired, and that's when I cut loose and express myself in crazy ways. Often these are the best pictures.

I could go on. There are so many ways for a person to enjoy themselves in simple ways that cost nothing, or next to nothing. Even just taking a bath, with music playing, and candles, and a glass of wine. I believe the most important things in life are the simple joys. I really do.