Finding Joy

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy 

and keep choosing it every day.

Henri Nouwen

I remember a Christmas vacation back when I was 6 or 7 years old. The days off had passed so quickly and I was beside myself at the thought of returning to school. To me, the holidays had been gone in an instant, and seemingly faster than they had the previous year. As I lamented (i.e. threw a tantrum) to my mom, I remember her sharing that as you get older, time seems to just speed up. 

I'm certainly feeling that recently. Honestly, it seems that from July to this very moment has passed in the blink of an eye. I wrote last week about enjoying the moment, and have been trying to keep it in mind as I skitter between appointments and obligations. Instead of getting bogged down by weighty "life is passing me by" thoughts, recently I've been trying to do a few smaller things to appreciate the beauty surrounding me.

I love taking pictures. Armed with my iPhone camera and Canon PowerShot, I'm known to my friends and family as the historian/yearbook editor of their lives. I'm always the one saying "Now, just squeeze together for a quick picture..." and post albums to Facebook after every major (and sometimes minor) event. But, I found that while my photos were appreciated in their online capacity, nothing else ever happened with them. 

This past week, I sorted through all of my photos from this past year and picked around 50 that were my favorites. I got prints made of all of them, which was such a treat! I sent a few of them off in the mail to friends, assembled a collage of favorites on my boyfriend's fridge door, and refreshed the frames and ribbon board in my apartment. How wonderful to go throughout my normal routine and see the smiling faces and fun memories of recent months! And all of that for $10 and an hour or so of my time. 

I've also realized just how much time I spend watching mind-numbing television. Granted, there are some guilty pleasure shows (i.e. Gossip Girl) that I won't give up, but I've been trying to spend my "entertainment" hours with things of a higher caliber. Recently, my friends and I watched Dirty Dancing, which I'd never seen, and this past weekend I was introduced to the splendor of BCC's Pride and Prejudice mini-series. It's been so refreshing to catch up on classic movies/TV shows instead of watching Sister Wives or yet another rerun of How I Met Your Mother. 

Sometimes small things can make the biggest difference. What is a way you can press pause and enjoy your surroundings this week? 

{Image via Pinterest}