I read an article HERE the other day, talking about five habits that lead to happiness. Now I'm generally a happy person but I was interested to see what this article suggested and I was particularly struck by the first habit -- three acts of gratitude.
The suggestion is that you spend two minutes every day for 21 days, identifying three new things to be grateful for. Not catch-all categories like health or family but specific things, like the taste of this blueberry muffin this morning or the way the sun glints and highlights your daughter's hair.
The article says that by looking for new things to be grateful for every day, you are training your mind to look for the positive rather than the negative and that the end result of training yourself to this new pattern will be increased happiness. Well, I thought, I'm already happy -- I don't need this. And then I realized that my taking or choosing pictures for this blog every day is pretty much the same thing. I am grateful for the certain slant of light on a weathered barn . . . the gleam of the sun between a boulder and a tree . . .Bob enjoying the water on a hot day . . . even the muddy pawprints that follow seem like like an emblem of joy.
The spicy sweet fragrance of a Stargazer lily is a celebration in itself . . .
Throw in a Swallowtail butterfly foraging amongst those delicious little freckles and you've got three things in one . . .
Even when there are no flowers, there's always a marvel somewhere -- A frost medallion on a window . . .
And there are those kitchen miracles I love -- the fern-like pattern the Crisco makes on the spoon . . .
And the perfect beads forming in the stainless steel sink.
Now that so many folks carry phones with built in cameras, I'll be expecting an uptick in overall happiness any day now.
Three photos a day to happiness? Could be.