What is happiness? Is being happy a stand-alone goal? A by-product of crafting a purposeful life with a strong social network? An impossible dream? This Photo Blogging Challenge post dives into some of the habits and practices I use to tune into happiness.
Staying busy from home during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been difficult. I still can't figure out how so many people are finding big chunks of time to do deep cleaning, sorting and tossing/recycling/donating! 🙂 Between sewing masks, gardening, exercising, cooking/baking, learning and family phone/Zoom calls, our days are rich and full.
To a greater or lesser degree, COVID-19 has triggered change for pretty much everyone. Since we've been working (and working out) from home for well over 10 years now, we're coping with fewer changes to our world than many people are: mostly lower level challenges, like figuring out how to order groceries for pick-up when then next pick-up window is 10 days to 2 weeks out, how best to support elderly neighbours and extended family members, adjusting to virtual choir rehearsals and wondering what the 2020 hiking/biking season will look like.
What we eat can trigger a sense of enjoyment, indulgence, guilt, satisfaction or some other feeling. We often cook as a way of caring. We eat "comfort" foods and share meals with family and friends to foster a sense of connectedness. When we're stressed, angry, sad, lonely or bored, our emotions can trigger "bad" eating. Fundamentally, our food choices are about nourishing our bodies, minds and relationships. But they're complicated by a lifetime of food-related memories, pressure to "eat right for the environment," and fear of being judged for our food choices - often silently and without taking into consideration budget and time constraints.
So many possibilities for this (and every) month's theme! We all need liquid to live. We also need to be liquid (i.e. flush with cash) to pay our bills! Liquid is also a phase of matter, where particles are free to flow. I got creative exploring various characteristics of matter in the liquid state, things like density, polarity and refraction. This post showcases some of the results.