It is easy to get bogged down in all the things that need to get done, that don’t seem to go right, that are less than perfect, that keep us taking one step forward and two steps back – and to become paralyzed or at least really negative about stuff without finding ways to find pleasure in very small things.

I have found – throughout life, of course, but more so this year – that there is so much restorative value in being in love with the smallest things. For me – it’s the early spring, the sunlight returning to the Swedish woods, the smell of the woods that lingers in the air, the freshly squeezed orange juice I prepare each morning, the fragrance and taste of a great cup of coffee (the first cup of the day – amazing), frozen orange juice (it never matters how cold I am or how cold it is outside – if I can freeze orange juice and eat it, I am deliriously happy), fresh pineapple, really loud music blasting through my house in the middle of the night. All very small but quite predictable things.

Sometimes the greatest contentment comes from positive predictability. There is comfort in the reliable even if we all like surprises.