Joy Diaries {Graduation, Long Walks & Date Night}

Hello hello! How are you feeling as we start this brand-new week?

I just finished a heart-focused meditation and am feeling peaceful, grounded, and grateful. At this point, I’ve gotten used to feeling about 100 different emotions a day, all across the spectrum in terms of valence and intensity. It can be exhausting, but it’s also quite heartening to know that the hard feelings never last too long and will always be replaced by something lighter.

As always, there’s a lot of joy to be found in the everyday, regardless of the tears that came a few hours before, the fight with a loved one that happened a few hours later, or the crippling fear that threatens to shroud your whole day in darkness. That is why focusing on those joy moments, and truly taking a moment to be deeply grateful for them, is so important to me right now. Otherwise, it’s too damn easy to let yourself be swallowed up.

So if you’re on board, let’s see what joyful things happened this week.

Graduation

Ah yes, starting with a small one. 😉 I am officially a college graduate, and though it’s nothing like what I imagined it would be, I feel really really blessed to say that. The way my college experience ended bears no reflection on how exciting, fun, challenging, and magical these last four years were, and I’m really truly grateful for all of my experiences at Georgetown that have made me who I am.

That being said, I’ll be honest, this day was emotionally exhausting. It was hard watching a video on my desktop computer, with just my mom next to me in our kitchen, informing me I have officially graduated college. It was hard not having my friends that have been by my side these four years to clutch and hug and do a triumphant teary fist pump with. It was hard holding back the tears when I knew this was a happy joyful occasion and yet I couldn’t shake off the sadness.

I felt simultaneously proud and confused, grateful and sad, strong and vulnerable. But it ended up being a beautiful day too. We took pictures outside, my wonderful mom did everything she could to make the day special and joyous for me (flowers, balloons, and banana bread hehe), and we even had a celebratory dinner with champagne over Zoom with my family. I felt truly loved and so deeply grateful. And despite all the contrasting emotions and tears and all the things that weren’t perfect, it was really joyful and magical too.

Summer Weather & Long Walk

Last Friday was the first day that felt like legitimate summer. It was also the day one of my favorite neighborhood coffee shops opened its doors back up (only for pick-up and with all kinds of safe measures in place). So you better bet that I took full advantage of the hot sunny weather to treat myself to my first iced coffee with oat milk in several months. Yes, it was heavenly. And because the weather was so unbelievably amazing, and I didn’t really have anywhere to be on this day, I ended up walking and wandering and getting lost in my neighborhood for right around three hours, and it was just medicine for the soul. So magical 🙂

Catching Up With a Good Friend

You know that feeling where you haven’t talked to a friend in a few weeks, and then you get to catching up, and it’s just the best conversation flow and you think to yourself how much you really enjoy them and are so grateful to have them in your life? It was one of those, and my heart felt so full. It was also during the walk I just described, so great vibes all around 🙂

Movie Date Night

I love a good movie date night, and even though they gotta be virtual now, they still make me really happy. On this one, we watched The Half Of It on Netflix using the Netflix Party extension (much recommend!). The movie is a coming-of-age film about first loves, and it was so sweet and heartfelt and just lovely.

All for me today! I’m off for another long walk and catch-up chat with a good friend. Let me know what your joy moments were from last week.

xx

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