Today I’m sharing 10 small things that have been making life better.

As we work on creating conditions in our lives to flourish, it’s really helpful to pay attention to what’s working for us and what we’ve been enjoying lately.

Books and audio books

Earth’s the Right Place for Love – Elizabeth Berg

The Hotel Nantucket – Elin Hilderbrand

Majesty – Katharine McGee

The Tailgate – Elin Hilderbrand

In Five Years – Rebecca Serle – I loved this one!

Mel Robbins Podcast

I’ve been listening to a lot of the Mel Robbins podcast lately. I love her style, however she uses a lot of language, so if that’s not for you, you might want to pass.

A couple of episodes that I loved:

How to Help Anyone in Your Life Who’s Struggling from May 18

The Best Years of Your Life are Ahead of You: A No BS Approach to Feeling Stuck from May 15

You’ve Got Money All Wrong: A Step by Step Guide to Living a Rich Life from April 27

5 mile hike in Red River Gorge

I went with Jim, our son and his dog on a five mile hike on a beautiful Sunday morning. The hike took us to a rock outcropping with gorgeous views. I laid down on the rock in the sun and soaked it all in for a few minutes.

We followed up the hike with lunch at a favorite spot and it made for a great day!

A poodle fell in love with me

I’m not really a dog person, but one evening we encountered a little girl and her standard poodle. This dog walked right over to me and looked me in the eye. He never broke eye contact and moved his paw to my lap and then to my shoulder.

I think he was in love 🙂

According to the American Kennel Club, he was expressing love: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/why-does-my-dog-stare-at-me/

“Of course, a lot of dog staring is exactly what it seems — an expression of love. Just as humans stare into the eyes of someone they adore, dogs will stare at their owners to express affection. In fact, mutual staring between humans and dogs releases oxytocin, known as the love hormone. This chemical plays an important role in bonding and boosts feelings of love and trust. The same hormone that is released when a new mother looks at her baby is also triggered when you look at your dog. No wonder our dogs like to stare at us all the time.”

Creative focus for May

I’ve been wanting to create daily habits for fiction writing and for art. To that end, I created a notebook to keep track of my progress, hold writing prompts, etc.

On the front of the notebook, I added some collage with the image of a man riding an ostrich.

I set my creative goal to just “ride the ostrich” everyday. I have no idea where this will lead, or if it will lead to anything, much like riding an ostrich!  I only want to keep up with that daily practice.

I kept up a daily writing habit for May, only missing one day.

As for daily art, other than a small, quick sketch each morning, I didn’t do as well. I think I need to start counting those small sketches as hitting the goal.

New writing group

I signed up for a fiction writing class in April and it ended a week ago. Several of us from that the class have decided to continue on together to encourage each other to keep writing.

I almost didn’t sign up for that class, but I’m so glad I did. Not only was the class amazing, but now I’ve got a small writing community too.

New favorite sandals from Amazon

I ordered these new sandals from Amazon a few weeks ago and they’ve become my go-to shoe for everyday.

Stainless Steel Colander Set

My old plastic colander finally bit the dust. I picked up a new stackable, stainless steel set from Costco that’s a lot like this one on Amazon.

Summer hair

Now that the weather is turning warmer, I’ve started wearing my hair in a French braid to keep it off my neck. Summer and hot flashes require some alterations 😉

I probably need to update my photos on Eat at Home, because I don’t look much like those anymore. Nearly five years ago, I decided to stop coloring my hair. I’ve also let it grow out. It’s lower maintenance now and I love it. I should have done this years ago!

Wildlife spotting

We’ve seen some interesting wildlife in the last few weeks, either in our yard or down the road.  We have deer and a turkey wander through the yard fairly often.

But a few weeks ago we spotted Baltimore orioles in our yard. I’d never seen them before.

And on a walk up the road, we saw an otter in the creek! I didn’t even know we had otters in Kentucky.

Share your tiny flourishes!

I’d love to know what tiny flourishes have been enhancing your life lately. Share in the comments!