Pockets of Joy
Image by Selynn Lee
Friends, hi!
It’s been a while since I posted. Things have been a bit bumpy for me lately. Some of you may know that I found out last year that I have lead toxicity. I’d been experiencing strange symptoms for a number of years, and doctors couldn’t figure out why. Meanwhile, things kept getting worse until, out of desperation, I went to see a functional medicine doctor in the U.S., and she finally figured it out.
Since then, I’ve been on and off a lead detox protocol. At first, it seemed to be working. Though the detox always made my symptoms worse while I was doing it, I would feel better afterward, and my toxic load was steadily diminishing. Unfortunately, earlier this spring, it appears as though the protocol stopped working as it should—probably because my detoxifying organs are tired—and instead of it pulling the lead from my bones and organs and eliminating it, my body started redistributing it to other organs, like my brain. So I’ve spent much of this year feeling really unwell.
The good news is that I think I finally understand what’s been happening, and I’m hopeful this means that I can start moving in the right direction again.
Though it’s been a challenging time, human nature is resilient and I am often reminded that, even when things are difficult, it can often be counted on to find little pockets of joy* wherever it can.
With that in mind, I thought I’d share a few things that have brought some brightness to my life in the last months, in the hope that it brings some to yours.
I never attended Lilith Fair. It was a bit too mainstream for my musical taste at the time, but that did not prevent me from highly enjoying the recent documentary about this iconic 90s music festival.
2. Cozy Cottage Homes
When you’re not feeling well, there is nothing better than escaping your current reality to a dreamland where everything is beautiful and wonderful and easy. Lately, for me, that dreamland is the world of cozy English cottage homes, like this one.
3. Shine A Light
Something that has always brought me joy is the discovery what I call a blindspot song, and by that I mean a song that you “should” have discovered by now—because it’s not that obscure, because it’s by an artist whose repertoire you thought you knew, because someone close to you loves it, etc.—but, for whatever reason, haven’t. What I love about blindspot songs is that you can’t really seek them out, they just show up out of the blue one day, and make you go: OH-MY-GOD-HOW-DID-I-NOT-KNOW-ABOUT-THIS.
My recent blindspot song is this soulful ditty.
4. Corduroy Pants
Of the many wonderful things I love about cords, my favourite is perhaps their ability to instantly make me feel like a high school geography teacher, the kind with a well-thumbed library card and a very specific opinion on lentil soup.
These days, I live in these beauts.
5. I’m looking forward to seeing this film.
6. I don’t have plans for Halloween this year, but these are the costumes I’ll be wearing to the Halloween parties I’m attending in my mind.
*I heard the phrase “pockets of joy” in this interview with the actor Richard E. Grant, where he shared that, before his late wife died, she left instructions with him and their daughter to not forget to find pockets of joy in every day. **The photo for this post on the main journal page is of by Henrik Purienne for Maison Kitsuné.