Tag: joy

Posted in In my humble opinion...

Sunday Poser #117- Pay it forward…Never look back.

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

Sadje’s Sunday Poser brought to my mind a beautiful memory along with the usual ‘food for thought’.

Doing generous acts of kindness feels SO satisfying.
I’ve often wondered if getting such satisfaction from it wasn’t a little self-serving because I get so much pleasure from it.

I’ve described doing such things as similar to Johnny Appleseed who spread his seeds hoping that some would grow. He didn’t need to stand around waiting for that ‘fruit’ because he had faith that some would take root. It wasn’t in his hands to tend them or even find out which ones grew. He got enough satisfaction from the act.

That’s how I see “Paying it forward”.

A few, maybe 5 now, years ago, a lady was walking through our grocery store wearing a gentle smile and carrying a bouquet of roses. She was about 60 years old. When our eyes met, she walked up to me and asked would I like a rose? (I love flowers but wondered what ‘the catch’ was yet there was something about her that made me graciously accept a rose.)
Then she made my whole day and gave me a memory that still warms my heart.

She explained that she was the caretaker for an elderly woman who no longer was mobile enough to come to the grocery herself. The woman said that the elderly lady asked her to purchase a bunch of roses and hand out some ‘sunshine’ for her.
(I’m tearing up as I write this.)
I never asked for that beautiful soul’s name, but I assure you that her act of kindness has not been forgotten. I’m proud I am able to share it further with all of you.

Sometimes I wonder if that lady has passed on to Heaven. We all know that she would be welcomed home there.
I hope she somehow knows how far that kind gesture has traveled.

https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2023/01/29/sunday-poser-117/

Posted in In my humble opinion..., Musical Musings

Looking for Joy and Finding Good

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

I was having an exchange with a blogger friend this morning when my cellphone went off. The song below is my current ringtone.

The topic of our conversation boiled down to an agreement that we are much more than our ‘political’ viewpoints. Let’s face it, somehow our enjoyment of everything has been damaged by media making all topics political.

I then looked up the clip from Sister Act:2 from which this joyful rendition came because it makes me happy.
Before me was Whoopi Goldberg, someone who is viciously political in ‘real life’…I looked past that.
Then I realized how long I’ve had ‘issues’ with the Catholic Church…I looked past that.
I further wondered if some people would be put off by any ‘religious’ theme… might they look past that?

What was before me was simply a heartwarming performance of a beautiful song by kids singing their hearts out in joy!

I love this clip. The song speaks to me. I didn’t need to entertain unpleasant aspects of what I could see. My heart is happy that I didn’t. I found the “beautiful” in it and the “beautiful” is getting harder to find.

Let’s all seek joy and goodness anywhere we can find it. Check our biases, complaints, and politics at the door and LOOK for it.
There’s a time and place for those things, of course, but without experiencing a BIG picture, now and then for balance, we’ll lose our humanity.

I’m willing to bet our media wants us to stay ‘lost’.

Please enjoy this clip with me. ❤




Posted in Words 'n' such Poetry

d’Verse Poets Pub- Quadrille Monday- Grand New Mood

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

Welcome to the dVerse Poets Pub with me, Kim from Writing in North Norfolk, and another Quadrille Monday, when we take any meaning of one word and transform it into 44 poetic words.

Today we have a little word that resonates and tinkles: bell.


Grand New Mood
{A triolet quadrille}

This grand new mood is lighter.
Ring, ring, ring, the joyful bell.
Darker times got brighter.
This grand new mood is lighter.
My gifted hugs much tighter,
The grace of feeling well.
This grand new mood is lighter.
Ring, ring, ring, the joyful bell.

44-words
https://dversepoets.com/2022/10/17/quadrille-162-for-whom-the-bell-tolls/


Posted in Writing Prompts

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #158- Living in Focus

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre
from Josh Rose @ Unsplash.com

Spending time with her daughter was precious to Dana. Even when Jackie wasn’t nearby, Dana’s memories of “their moments” were vivid because she had been blessed with the ability to “see” memories by replaying them in her mind. Now that her eyesight was failing her, with a diagnosis that it would never improve, Dana valued her ‘memory catalog’ even more.
As Jackie sat across the table on their Mother/Daughter brunch date, Dana snapped a photo of her. This way she could see her daughter clearly once she could get home and enlarge it on her computer. It seemed an odd new ritual but her exceptional memory, after all, was triggered by visual clues and the real world was getting fuzzy.
When Dana got home, she delighted in staring at her lovely girl. As she drank in the joy of the day, Dana had a thought she’d never before had… “If all people took time to focus more clearly on moments, there would be far more joy experienced in this world.”



https://fivedotoh.com/2022/02/28/fandangos-flash-fiction-challenge-158/

Posted in Writing Prompts

Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge #156

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

The photograph above is from CookmePancakes @ DeviantArt.com.

Hope Makes Everything Possible

Try as she may, Hope’s mother gave up years ago on talking her daughter out of a long daily ritual of waiting for the mail. Hope’s autism was most severe and the quiet time, she spent daily waiting, had become a mixed blessing. Her mother had come to count on a few hours of ‘ME’ time to care for herself, and she needed that. So, all was well.

There had been an offer for a free poster of Hope’s favorite TV characters in a magazine ad, so Mama had long ago sent for it. Hope was 7 at the time. She kept the ordering page neatly folded reverently on her dresser ever since, but Hope was now still waiting 15 years later. The T.V. show had even gone into syndication 10 years ago, but Hope got to watch the Rugrats on demand anyway. Time just wasn’t moving in her world.

Well, Mama brought Hope her lunch- on one grey day- and a ring at the door, signaling the mail, went off. The young woman almost upset her plate as she raced downstairs with the exact same daily enthusiasm she’d maintained ever since childhood.
Mama braced herself for the usual sullen daughter dragging up the stairway in disappointed when Hope ran into the room squealing! She was holding a long tube above her head.
There it was! That long-awaited prize that Mama was certain would never come. They opened it together and immediately hung it on her bedroom wall. Hope danced with happiness too excited to even eat her lunch.
Mama’s heart nearly burst with joy watching her daughter’s celebration even though she was absolutely baffled by the long-delayed wish coming true. “What the heck?”, Mama thought.

The next day, Hope anxiously paced all around rubbing her hands since her routine vigil had been ended, so Mama thought quickly and ordered another poster from the same ancient careworn magazine page. It worked!
Her daughter started a brand-new vigil. And, with a name like Hope, she’d be waiting for as long as it takes. All was well once again.

https://fivedotoh.com/2022/02/14/fandangos-flash-fiction-challenge-156/

Posted in Words 'n' such Poetry, Writing Prompts

Haibun Monday 1/31/22 Harbingers of Hope

Posted on by Susan St.Pierre

For those new to haibun, the form consists of one to a few paragraphs of prose—usually written in the present tense—that evoke an experience and are often non-fictional/autobiographical. They may be preceded or followed by one or more haiku—nature-based, using a seasonal image—that complement without directly repeating what the prose stated.

In winter, moments before Spring’s advent, I listen. Male Northern Cardinals are poised to start singing their ‘welcome song’. They are the first creatures who set their sights on longer, and warmer, days in New England. Do they speak for us or to each other?
My ears have an instinct born from years of paying attention to the ‘little things’. It’s time. And when I’m granted witness, I’ll pause lifting my smiling face toward the sun, presently connected to the natural world’s harbingers of hope.

Birds aren’t vain nor proud.
Voices raised toward heaven,
Life professing joy.

Haibun Monday 1/31/22: Winter