Thursday, April 30, 2009

You Capture: Joy

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live. Bertrand Russell


When I first learned that this week's You Capture theme would be joy, I was--well--overjoyed. I have so much joy in my life that I thought for sure I'd end up with too many pictures. Right? Yeah, wrong. I had trouble with this. The weather thwarted me by being colder and rainier than I thought it'd be this week. My house thwarted me by being messier than I wanted. Luke thwarted me by being grumpy and not photogenic.

I had to look hard to find my joy, but I found it. I found it by feeling the baby's foot stuck behind my belly button all day. In eating an entire small pineapple and yellow pepper pizza by myself. In skipping working out because I just didn't feel like it. In taking a bath, even though I know it doesn't help sciatica.
And finally, I found it in climbing into a bed with clean sheets, with a new candle and an old book, enjoying the joy found in the quiet moments before sleep.

30 comments:

jodi said...

It's nice that these challenges bring us into an awareness of our surroundings. You may have thought you had a bad week, but instead, you found joy in the little things. Great Job!

Unknown said...

I like the way that you've captured joy. I too love candles and feeling a baby growing inside is certainly joyful.

Mom24 said...

I struggled with this one too, and I didn't expect to. I love the joy you found though. I miss feeling those little feet. :-)

Crazy Babs said...

sometimes it is the little things that bring us the most joy, clean sheets are one of the best joys! Hey, maybe I will wash mine today! Love your words and your picture1

tiarastantrums said...

oh that was such a lovely post!

*Lissa* said...

Heavenly! :o)

Pineapple and yellow pepper pizza?! EW.

Sheryl said...

A hot bath + candle + a good book = heaven

Sara @ Life With the Two said...

Lovely! That will be joy for me in a few weeks when I am reunited with all my stuff!

Jessi said...

You have a wonderful attitude! Beautiful post :)

Nell said...

Now that is joy! Totally.

Nell
SheSnaps.com

The Animator's Wife said...

Great post-- oh so true.

It's the intangibles that are hard to capture that give us the greatest joy!

IE Mommy said...

Very nice and very relaxing...yes, Joy

Thanks for sharing! :)
I'd love it if you'd swing by and check out my photo.
I hope everyone has an great weekend!

Christine
The IE Mommy
www.iemommy.wordpress.com

Unknown said...

Sometimes JOY comes from the simplest things, doesn't it? : )

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

I need to find that, too. Sounds heavenly!

Steph

Heather D said...

Isn't it nice to find joy in simple things? Love your photo and your post!

Unknown said...

I love this one! That is joy!

Anonymous said...

Sometimes having to look for the joy makes you appreciate it that much more.

april said...

That's so relaxing!! Definitely joy!

sunnymama said...

What a sweet post! I love your words and picture of joy.

Shae said...

that is very joyful. I loved feeling my babies behind my bellybutton.

Liz Ferguson said...

There was nothing that brought me more joy when I was pregnant then feeling the baby moving inside! I miss that feeling! :)

Sometimes the joy we find isn't what we expected it to be. At least that's how it is for me sometimes.

swonderful said...

That sounds so lovely! Enjoy the peace and quiet-- you will have a different, noisier, wigglier, wonderful(er? haha) kind of joy soon. :)

Anonymous said...

Those are definitely all things to be joyful about!

anymommy said...

Now I feel joyful. Great post.

I'm starting to think about labor too - I've had good experiences and I'm looking forward to it, except for that part at the end there where you're in excruciating pain ;-)

Catie said...

Sometimes the best joy is the joy we have to look for. I'm glad you found yours!

Stillmary said...

And you found joy in the story you told to accompany your beautiful photo. No one could read it and not smile...and feel very joyful.
And thank you for being so sweet about my 'mistake'. You really are an angel.

Sharon - Mom Generations said...

This sounds like HEAVEN, never mind JOY!! You had me at clean sheets!!

Soulful photograph...

Anonymous said...

Oh nice. Quiet definitely almost always equals joy for me.

Kim said...

I love how you think! There is so much joy everywhere. The photo is just great!

I played too...come on over.

Amanda W said...

That's pretty cool how you find joy in reflecting on your week. Like the shot.