Clean Sheets Happiness

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You know what?
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You know what does not get enough credit?
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Clean sheets.
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Honestly, clean sheets may be one of the greatest achievements of modern civilization.
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You crawl into bed, the sheets are cool, the pillowcases are fresh, everything smells clean, and for about 12 seconds you feel like a woman who is her entire life together.
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The bills are paid, the house is organized, your relationships are thriving, your paperwork is filed, you have answered every email.
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None of that is necessarily true, but clean sheets make it feel like it is.
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And that is what we're talking about today.
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All the tiny ordinary things that make life surprisingly wonderful.
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For me, a crisp Diet Coke, a cool breeze on a hot day, finding$20 in a coat pocket, getting every green light when you're already running late.
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Taking off your bra at the end of the day.
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See, there's a lot of them.
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Come on, that deserves its own national holiday.
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Today we are not solving the world's problems.
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We are not improving ourselves.
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I am sick of trying to make things better.
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I'm sick of the negativity in the this world.
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I'm sick of organizing drawers, starting diets, setting goals.
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I've done all that with you guys, and it's all important.
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But today we're going to put that all on the back burner and we're going to simply appreciate the little things that make us stop and think, oh, that's nice.
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And sometimes we think, oh, that's really, really nice.
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I want to welcome you to Inside Marcy's Mind, the podcast where we talk about life, all the funny, strange, delightful, irritating, and completely ordinary parts of it.
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I am Marcy, and this is a place where we sit down together, just like friends having coffee, and talk about whatever's been bouncing around inside my mind.
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Hence the name, Inside Marcy's Mind.
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You know, and today what was bouncing around in there is happiness, not the giant life-changing kind, not winning the lottery kind, the clean sheets kind.
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I'm just talking about the small things, the tiny flashes of pleasure that happened in the middle of an ordinary day.
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The things that cost little or nothing, but somehow make life feel much better.
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So pour yourself some coffee, grab a crisp diet coke, get comfortable, and let's celebrate the little things that make us ridiculously happy.
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It's been a great week.
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Just want to catch up on me.
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Great week.
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I have had great meals.
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I have gone to great concerts.
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I have done some business and helping get some things set up at church.
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Not enough to overwhelm me, but enough to make me feel useful.
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I've this will be the third podcast I'm doing today.
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It is my third and final one, and I feel my other two are exceptional as well.
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So it's been a good week.
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Next week I have a little one-day overnighter planned, and the week after that, I'm heading to Arizona.
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So I'm just happy, enjoying summer, and trying to focus on the little things that make me happy.
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There's enough sadness out there.
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There's enough stress.
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I have to say, happiness has terrible public relations.
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I think happiness has a public relations problem.
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We have been taught to look for happiness in enormous packages.
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A dream vacation, a major accomplishment, a perfect relationship, a new house, a big celebration.
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You know what?
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Real life usually does not have background music.
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Real life has a dishwasher running and somebody asking where the scissors are.
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We spend so much time waiting for the big moments that we miss the little ones.
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Happiness is opening the refrigerator, realizing there is still one piece of cake left.
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Or like me today, when I got home and I was starving, there was still a little bit of my pasta salad that I made for the concert on Sunday night when Craig and I left, went, excuse me.
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And I was so excited.
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It's walking into a room and remembering why you went there.
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This last one becomes increasingly excited the older you get.
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It's thinking you were out of coffee and discovering one more pod in the cabinet.
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You know, for me, it's coming home and an elevator's waiting for me.
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If you have ever lived in a high-rise, or if you've ever been even to a hotel for several days and had to deal with elevators, you know what it feels like, especially when I have packages in my arm, to walk to the elevator bank and there's one with its doors wide open, waiting to take me to the 36th floor.
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You know, sometimes happiness is not fireworks.
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Sometimes it's the person ahead of you at the grocery store saying, You only have two things, go ahead of me.
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It's driving on the highway, the freeway, the toll road, wherever you are, and you're merging, and someone lets you merge nicely.
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That person is practically an angel.
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No wings, no halo.
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Just someone standing there.
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I'm sorry, so just someone driving there and uh and opening a spot just for you.
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We wait for happiness to arrive as an event, but most of the time it arrives as a moment.
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And the funny thing about happy moments is that they do not announce themselves.
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There is no trumpet.
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Nobody says, Hey, Marcy, guess what?
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Prepare yourself at 243 today.
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You're gonna experience a perfectly timed breeze.
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It's gonna come just when you need it, nice and cool.
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These things just happen.
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And when we notice it, it feels even more generous.
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The clean sheet effect, I like to call it.
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Let's return to clean sheets because I feel strongly about this.
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Why do clean sheets feel so luxurious?
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They're just sheets.
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We already own them, we've already slept on them.
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We've washed them ourselves, nobody delivered them on a silver tray.
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We probably made the bed ourselves.
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But yet, when you climb into a freshly made bed, you feel like you have checked into a very exclusive hotel.
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That is true.
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And I will tell you, I never climb into clean sheets without taking a glorious shower beforehand and buffing and scrubbing and doing one of those, you know, those extra long showers.
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You know, it does feel like you climbed into a freshly made bed.
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You feel, I'm sorry, when you climb into a freshly made bed, you do feel like you checked into a very exclusive hotel.
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A hotel where you also have to take out the garbage and scoop the cat litter, but still a very exclusive hotel.
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There's something about that cool, smooth feeling when you first get under the covers, especially if you have taken a shower, which I just shared with you.
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Clean body, clean pajamas, clean sheets.
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Oh my God, that's the holy trinity of bedtime.
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You get into bed and you try not to move too much because you don't want to disturb perfection.
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You arrange the pillows, you pull the blanket up just right, and then naturally one of the cats decides this is the exact moment to walk across your stomach.
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Oh my God.
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And he's only got three legs and he's 23 pounds.
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And let me tell you, when he walks on you, you know it.
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Anyways, clean sheets remind me that some of the best pleasures are not new, they are renewed.
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We do not always need another thing.
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Sometimes we need to refresh the things we already have.
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Wash the sheets, open the windows, light the candle we've been saving, use the good lotion.
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Can you believe we have good lotion?
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I know, right?
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Is that just dumb?
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Open the good lotion and use it.
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Drink out of the glass we like.
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Why are we saving our nice things?
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For whom?
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The queen is not coming, or the king for that matter.
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And even if she were, she'd probably bring her own glassware.
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This is something wonderful about deciding that an ordinary Tuesday deserves the nice sheets, the fluffy towel, and the good coffee.
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We often act like pleasure has to be earned.
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Oh, that is so true.
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I will light the candle when company comes.
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That's what we say.
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I will wear the good pajamas on vacation.
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I will use the fancy soap when the bathroom is perfectly clean.
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No, no, no, no.
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The point of this podcast is light the candle now.
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Use that doggone soap.
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Oh my gosh, my mom had these little flower soaps in our guest bathroom.
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And they were so dang dusty.
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Because how do you wash soap?
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But you couldn't use them.
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I think in the summer they look like shells.
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I don't know.
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But anyhow, do you remember that?
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The good soap?
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Use it.
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Wear the pajamas.
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Your life is happening right now, not after the house is clean enough to be photographed for a magazine.
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It's happening now, people.
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Wear the jammies.
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Now let's discuss beverages.
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Because there is having a drink, and then there is having a drink exactly the right temperature.
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A crisp diet coke poured over ice.
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That first sip is practically medicinal, and I am here to tell you it is medicinal.
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Not medically.
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Nobody quote me.
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I don't want to be quoted.
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I'm not offering health advice.
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I am offering an emotional truth.
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There is something about hearing that can open that little fizz, the ice crackling, the first cold sip.
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It can turn a completely average afternoon into an occasion.
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And everyone has their drink.
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Mine is Diet Coke.
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Now, I do, I will drink a canned Diet Coke at home, but my preferred drink of choice, being sober for 38 years, is on my way home stopping McDonald's.
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It could be McDonald's, it could be for I where I live now, walking home.
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It could be McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, or if I want to go up a block, Circle K, which I do a lot because it's 99 cents for one, and they're really good.
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They have the crunchy ice and the foam cups.
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Um, as a diet coke.
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And it does change my attitude.
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It does change all those things.
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It's, and every one of you has it.
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It may be hot coffee in the morning.
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I also love a hot coffee in the morning.
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Maybe it's iced tea with exactly the right amount of lemon.
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Maybe it's a sparkling water with a slice of cucumber.
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Maybe it's a milkshake so thick that trying to drink it through the straw becomes a cardiovascular workout.
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The perfect drink is not just about thirst, it's a pause.
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It's a tiny ritual.
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You sit down, you take a sip, you think, okay, this day can keep going.
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Coffee people really understand this.
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And I am a coffee people as much as I'm a Diet Coke people.
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There is coffee, and then there is the first cup of coffee when the house is quiet, and mine's sitting right here.
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Craig is out running.
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That was my first sip of the coffee of the day.
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It's amazing.
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And I'll tell you why I'm recording the rest of this podcast on Friday, because one of my little pleasures that makes me so dang happy happened during my recording of this podcast yesterday.
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I was recording this podcast yesterday.
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This is the third one I do.
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I do all three podcasts in one day.
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And I do Inside Marcy's Mind Last.
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And I was doing it and I looked down and my phone was ringing, and it was my son Alec.
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Well, let me tell you something, people.
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There is nothing that's going to stop me from talking to that boy.
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So I paused the podcast.
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We had an amazing conversation.
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It lasted so long that Craig came home.
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And once that happens, I couldn't do it.
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So I thought when I get up tomorrow morning, I'll finish the podcast because I like to have these out on Friday for you.
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So it will be out this Friday.
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You it will be here this just as soon as I'm done, it'll be up.
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But one of my little pleasures talking to my kids on the phone or texting with them.
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For me, that phone call or that texting exchange with my kids is actually my greatest pleasure.
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But little pleasures can come in all kinds of ways.
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Like that first sip of coffee.
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You hold that coffee with two hands.
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For approximately three minutes, you believe that you are the kind of person who will spend the day calmly and thoughtfully completing one task at a time.
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Okay, it's a dream, people.
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And it does happen right after I have that first sip of coffee.
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Does it last?
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Umes it last for three minutes?
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Probably not, but it's a good try.
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Because you look at your phone and that fantasy ends.
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But those three minutes were beautiful.
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Okay, just remember that.
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There is this other great joy that you probably don't think about ice.
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The joy of ice, good ice.
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And those of you that have the joy of ice, you know what I mean: the little crunchy ice.
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Sometimes people call it restaurant ice, the ice that makes the drink taste better, even though logically it's just frozen water.
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Not all ice is equal.
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Some ice is too large, some ice sticks together in one enormous glacier, some ice jumps out of the freezer dispenser and lands everywhere except the glass, but the right ice, another little gift.
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Because I want you to remember what we're talking about today.
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We're talking about little gifts.
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All right.
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Now there is a cool breeze on a hot day.
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It's one of those moments when nature seems to say, I know, this is a lot.
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Here you go.
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You're hot, you're sticky, your hair has made decisions without consulting you.
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Then suddenly a breeze comes through, not a storm, not enough wind to blow your belongings into the next county.
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Just a soft, cool summer breeze.
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And for a moment, everything is perfect.
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And um, back when I was young, there was a song called Summer Breeze.
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And uh yeah, a whole song about a summer breeze.
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It feels personal, like the universe noticed you were struggling and turned on a fan.
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The same thing happens when the sun comes out after several gray days.
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You walk outside and think, oh, there you are.
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Or that first really comfortable day after a stretch of heat.
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Oh my gosh.
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After we had like a week of really intense weather here.
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And that first morning you woke up and it was cool and I could open the windows.
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I'm a window opener, even though I live downtown.
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I have windows that can open, and uh, not everybody does.
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And I open them every chance I get because it's not a lot, because all winter you cannot open them, even though the cat yells at me to open them, I cannot.
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So opening a window is one of my little pleasure to feel the air.
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But that first comfortable day after a stretch of heat, it hits different.
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People are suddenly friendlier, dogs look happier.
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Everyone starts walking around as though they personally negotiated the weather.
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Okay, now here comes one of my tiniest pleasures: fall.
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Fall has its own tiny pleasures.
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The first day you can put on a sweater without sweating underneath it, that first crisp morning, the smell of leaves, the moment you realize the mosquitoes have finally been defeated, then winter, and I remember last year's first snowfall.
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It was spectacular.
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Winter gives us the first snowfall, but before it becomes dirty sidewalk slush and a personal attack.
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And I have sent, I have on my Instagram put a picture of a giant black snowpile that had been sitting there since the first snow.
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Um, that first snow last year happened when Alec was here visiting and it was Thanksgiving weekend, and it was spectacular.
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For the city, our usually our first snowfall doesn't stick because everything's so warm.
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This one did, and it was spectacular.
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Spring gives us that first day when you can go outside with putting without putting on every item of clothing you own.
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Weather can change your mood without asking permission.
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And when it gives you the exact thing you need a breeze, a warm patch of sun, a gentle rain when you are safely inside is one of the life's finest little pleasures.
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And you know, I had that little pleasure.
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I had to get home from the gym before it rained last week.
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And I did, and it was a spectacular rain when I got home.
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Had thunder, lightning, everything.
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But guess what?
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I didn't get wet.
00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.720
Food moments that deserve applause.
00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.640
Food gives us so many tiny moments of happiness.
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.279
I'm not even talking about a fancy diner.
00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.960
Fancy dinner diner.
00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:00.400
A fancy dinner.
00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.799
I am talking about the French fry at the bottom.
00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.960
Oh, the bottom of the bag French fry.
00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:07.279
Oh, I even had that the other day.
00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:14.000
I had stopped and got a Diet Coke at Portillo's on my way home from the doctor's, and I treated myself to crinkle fries.
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.400
They have crinkle fries, a small bag.
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.359
And I ate it and I thought, oh, it's all done.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.480
And I reached around and I got a bag fry.
00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:28.480
There's nothing better than when you think you're done with a good batch of fries, and there's a bag fry.
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:39.039
Or when you cut into an avocado that is perfect, not hard enough to bounce, not brown and emotionally damaged, perfect.
00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:40.960
That deserves applause.
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.839
How about toast that comes out exactly right?
00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:51.200
Golden brown, crispy around the edges, still soft in the middle, and the butter melts spectacularly.
00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.200
You stand there and think, look what I have accomplished.
00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:56.480
Is it toast?
00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.640
It is toast, but let us have our small victories.
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:03.839
A perfectly right peach over a kitchen sink.
00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.400
I know somebody that loves this one, popcorn at the movies.
00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.279
Loves popcorn at the movies.
00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:15.599
How about that first bite of pizza when you're really, really hungry?
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.200
Finding out somebody brought donuts.
00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:27.680
Oh my gosh, when I was working and I saw a pink box coming in the office with little grease marks on it, I knew it was going to be a good morning.
00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:32.240
Having leftovers in the refrigerator that are your favorite.
00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:37.200
Yesterday I had the left, the rest of the pasta salad I had made over the weekend.
00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.720
And in my house, my pasta salad is legendary.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.839
Alec makes it for um his climbing trips.
00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:47.519
It gives him the great car brush, and Kyle loves it.
00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:53.599
So there was some of that fabulous pasta salad left over, and I had it for dinner last night.
00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:02.720
These are small but powerful sentences, and there is a special happiness in somebody making food for you.
00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.279
It doesn't have to be elaborate.
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.799
Someone handing you a sandwich and saying, I made you one.
00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:11.359
Can you feel that love?
00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:13.839
Yes, and nobody ever does that for me.
00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:15.759
So that's a sad one for me.
00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:18.880
But if they do it for you, oh my gosh, it's great.
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:22.000
Some remember someone remembering how you take your coffee.
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.640
Oh, my favorite is my my bestie, Lynn.
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:30.799
If we're staying in a hotel and we only have in-room coffee, we'll go down and get us our coffees in the morning.
00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:32.000
And I love that.
00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.839
It makes me feel so special.
00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:40.720
So, Lynn, if you're listening, that little thing that you do is not so little, and it means the world.
00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:49.279
Someone saying, You have the last piece of something, cake, donut, whatever it may be.
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.519
Someone saying, I know you like these, so I picked picked you up some.
00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.759
That is love hiding in a grocery bag.
00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.000
How about when things work the first time?
00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:07.680
One of adulthood's greatest pleasure is when something works exactly as it was intended.
00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.880
You put the key in the lock, it turns smoothly.
00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.559
You send something to the printer and it prints.
00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.119
Here's my favorite.
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.119
The password works.
00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:24.079
How about a fitted sheet going it on the right direction for the first time?
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.519
They're now putting labels on them.
00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:29.119
Bottom left corner.
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.240
I've noticed that.
00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.440
I really like that.
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.960
Another small pleasure that makes me very happy.
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:41.519
You know, you plug something in and it immediately starts charging.
00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:44.319
You don't have to jiggle anything, you don't have to wiggle anything.
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:50.720
You open a jar without having to hit it with a spoon, run it under hot water, wrap it in a towel.
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:55.119
I my hands are so bad now that doesn't happen often for me anymore.
00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.039
The remote control works.
00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:58.079
How's that?
00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.759
The website, again, accepts.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:10.160
Your password, the coupon scans, the customer service representative answers your question without transferring you to six departments and eventually back to the first person.
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:17.200
These moments are thrilling because we have all been trained by experience to expect trouble.
00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.119
And like I said, it's by experience.
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:23.599
It's not like we're just the doom and gloomers.
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.079
I mean, how many times do things not work?
00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.440
How many times do all the things that I just said not happen?
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:30.319
A lot.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:33.759
So when technology works, we are suspicious.
00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:36.799
You click submit and the confirmation comes up immediately.
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.359
You stare at the screen and you think, that's it.
00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:40.480
We're done.
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.400
No error message.
00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.799
No red box, you didn't fill this in.
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:47.200
No red box, you didn't check, check that.
00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:54.559
No request to create a new password containing two capital letters, three numbers, a symbol, your childhood nickname in the blood of a unicorn.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.400
Beautiful, we say.
00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.680
Sometimes joy is simply the absence of unnecessary difficulty.
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.880
I'm going to say that again because first of all, I didn't say it great.
00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.440
And I think it was a genius line.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:13.440
Sometimes joy is simply the absence of unnecessary difficulty.
00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:16.720
How about that joy of cancellation?
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:18.559
Now I understand this.
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:30.400
We we this may make me sound slightly antisocial, and I'm not, but there is a very specific joy that occurs when plans are canceled, and you did not have to be the one to cancel them.
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.359
You wanted to see the person, you truly did.
00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.839
You were looking forward to it when you made the plans, but now the day has arrived.
00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:42.480
You are home, you work in comfortable clothes are on, and your enthusiasm has left the building.
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:45.599
Then the text comes, I'm sorry, can we reschedule?
00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:50.799
And of course, you reply, Oh no, I hope everything is okay because you are a good person.
00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.680
But privately, a choir of angels is singing.
00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.880
Suddenly, the entire evening opens up before you.
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:01.039
You have been handed time, unexpected, unscheduled time.
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:02.880
That is a great joy.
00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:04.319
It is a small, great joy.
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.480
You can watch television, read, order dinner.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:07.759
Do nothing.
00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:14.319
We have made doing nothing sound like a character flaw.
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:15.519
It's not.
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.240
Doing nothing is underrated.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.400
What did you do today?
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.920
Nothing wonderful.
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.279
Was anyone injured?
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:24.559
Did the roof collapse?
00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:28.880
Did society crumble because you sat on the couch and watched three episodes of something?
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.160
No, it didn't.
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:35.119
And I am I am the queen of getting it done and having do nothing time.
00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.880
Then perhaps nothing was exactly what you needed.
00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:40.000
Doing nothing.
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.880
There is joy in an empty square on the calendar.
00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:46.880
There is joy in a morning where you have nowhere to be.
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.960
Wednesday I had an empty square on the calendar other than working out.
00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:54.799
But other than that is a must, and that is a joy for me.
00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:01.039
There is a joy in realizing you have one more day before the thing you thought was tomorrow.
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:02.079
Have you ever thought that?
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:05.519
Like, oh, tomorrow I've got to, oh no, it's not until Friday.
00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:07.759
And you're like, oh, I got another day.
00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:09.279
Funny, right?
00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.079
Oh, there's small social moments.
00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.240
A neighbor holding the elevator.
00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:25.519
Someone, you know, waving you into a spot when you're trying to merge, someone laughing at your joke.
00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:27.839
Somebody saves you a seat.
00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.720
When somebody saves you a seat, it means I expected you.
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:34.160
I wanted you here.
00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.079
There's room for you beside me.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.759
And let me tell you, we have coffee every day after working out.
00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:43.039
And we may not drink coffee, but it's at a little coffee place in the mall, right?
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.599
Where we come up the escalator from our gym.
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:51.759
And we try to gather as many chairs as we can so that when somebody else comes up, they've got a place to sit.
00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.119
Because it tells them that we want them there.
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:56.319
It's important.
00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:59.359
Taking things off.
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:00.400
How about a bra?
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:01.119
Whoo!
00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:04.160
Shoes after a long day, tight pants, a name tag.
00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:06.880
Oh, nothing better than taking off a name tag.
00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:08.799
It means the event is over.
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.160
How about a heavy coat?
00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:15.440
If you don't live in somewhere where you wear heavy coats, taking off a heavy coat is just as great as taking off your bra.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:16.880
Mark my words.
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:21.119
There's a specific noise a woman makes when she takes her bra off at the end of the day.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.799
And I'll just leave it at that.
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:24.559
Well, maybe I'll tell you.
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:28.319
It's kind of somewhere between a sigh and a spiritual release.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:33.920
You are not simply removing a garment, you are returning to your natural habitat.
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:37.519
And taking off shoes when your feet hurt, magnificent.
00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:44.160
You walk into the house, you kick those shoes off, and you have just completed a cross-country journey on foot.
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.720
You have been standing for 45 minutes.
00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:50.640
Your feet do not care about facts.
00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:53.119
Taking off makeup can feel wonderful too.
00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:57.200
Washing your face, pulling your hair back, putting on soft clothes.
00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:01.759
These are all the little joys, and they do happen every day, all day.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:03.680
I just want you to notice them.
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:07.759
Your outside clothes come off and your inside clothes go on.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.400
That's a that's a joy for some of us.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:18.880
Once the pajamas are on, the contract is binding and mine go on as soon as I possibly can put them on.
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:26.640
I am not, I am not, especially in the winter, winter, opposed to putting my pajamas on at three o'clock in the afternoon.
00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:34.000
If my day is done and there is nothing left on that calendar, you bet your ass, and it's cold outside, those jammies are on.
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.480
The jammies have spoken.
00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:47.920
There's some other luxuries I we forget to notice: a warm towel, a favorite mug, the cool side of a pillow, a parking space near the door.
00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.599
This is so underrated.
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:50.960
A really good pen.
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:58.559
There are pens, and then there are pens that glide across the paper like they were made specifically for your hand.
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.000
You use it once and immediately become productive.
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:03.920
Someone says, Can I borrow you a pen?
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:05.839
And you say no.
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.039
Or you give them another pen.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:18.319
A hot shower when you're cold, a cold shower when you're hot, a long shower when nobody needs you for anything.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.759
How about just the smell of coffee brewing?
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.480
Fresh cut grass, a candle that actually smells like the label.
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:30.000
Vanilla cookie should smell like a vanilla cookie.
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.759
I am very picky about my candles, and I do love a candle.
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.079
I burn one every day in the morning.
00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.160
Winter, spring, summer, fall.
00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:49.119
I will say fall, winter, early spring, they land a little different because it's so dark here, but I do burn a candle all the time.
00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:52.559
The first page of a new notebook.
00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.759
Your haircut right after you got it cut.
00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.599
Getting in your own bed after traveling.
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:02.480
I know we talked about sheets in the beginning of this.
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:05.279
And when Alec called, he asked me what I was doing.
00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.359
And I said, I'm working on one of my podcasts.
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:08.720
He said, Oh, what are you talking about?
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:12.160
I said, Well, I'm talking about the little pleasures in life.
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:13.759
And I said, You calling is one of them.
00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:17.039
But I said, the one that I really love are clean sheets.
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:18.720
And he just, you could hear it in him.
00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:20.319
Oh, I love clean sheets.
00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:27.359
And Alec does a lot of outdoorsy stuff where he gets very dirty and crody and climbing and greasy and dirty and all of that.
00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:38.640
He says, whenever he takes a long trip, he washes his sheets before he goes so that when he comes home and takes that home shower after being gone and out in the wilderness, he gets to get into clean sheets.
00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:39.440
And you know what?
00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:41.039
That just made my heart sing.
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.880
So getting into your own bed after traveling has its own joys.
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:56.319
No matter how lovely the hotel is, there's always that moment when you return home and you think, oh, my pillow, my blanket, my bathroom, my coffee maker.
00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.160
Travel is wonderful, but coming home has benefits.
00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:06.799
Found time and found money, found things are some of the greatest small joys there are.
00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:12.640
Finding an hour, finding 20 bucks in your pocket.
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:15.599
All of those things are small joys.
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:20.880
Having a doctor cancel an appointment, all of that makes me so happy.
00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:30.000
Or looking on my app before I go into CVS and seeing a coupon for 10 bucks off$15 purchase, things like that just make me so happy.
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.480
Animals existing near us is another one.
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:40.000
Having a cat, a dog, whatever your animal is, curl up next to you and choosing you.
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:42.480
That means a lot.
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:47.279
I woke up in the middle of the night and Patrick was on right next to me.
00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:51.759
He had made that choice in the middle of the night when I was sound asleep and couldn't even pet him.
00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:53.440
He needed to be near his mom.
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.799
And in the middle of the night, I got a small joy.
00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:00.240
All right, once again, my podcasts are getting longer.
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:01.680
I have a lot to say.
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.000
Just the sound of happiness.
00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:05.440
I want you to think about that.
00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:13.599
The sound of happiness, whether it's music, a singer, a baby, uh, whatever it is, sounds can bring us happiness.
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:15.680
Life can be hard.
00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:23.680
Even in good seasons, there are responsibilities, worries, changes, disappointments, and days when everything feels heavier than it should.
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.839
Noticing little pleasures does not mean pretending hard things don't exist.
00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:30.880
It does mean forcing yourself to be cheerful.
00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:36.400
I'm sorry, it does not mean forcing yourself to be cheerful every second.
00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:42.319
And it definitely does not mean putting a positive quote over every problem and calling it solved.
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:52.720
What I'm asking you to do is things are difficult, things can be sad, but I want you, even during those times, to notice the little joys.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:56.400
Little joys spark happiness.
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:01.759
A breeze is still cool, a friend's laugh is still comforting when you're going through hard times.
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:04.400
Clean sheets are still clean.
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.480
Just remember, these little things give us somewhere soft to land.
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:14.720
They remind us that a difficult day is not necessarily a completely bad day.
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.119
Maybe the appointment was stressful, but the people at the front desk was kind.
00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:23.519
Maybe the traffic was terrible, terrible, but your favorite song came on.
00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:28.799
Maybe you had a hard conversation, but afterward you sat outside and felt the sun on your face.
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.720
Life is rarely all good or all bad.
00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:36.720
It is usually a strange, a strange mixture.
00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:44.640
A little worry, a little laughter, a bill to pay, a good sandwich, a hard conversation, a beautiful sunset.
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:46.960
All of it happening in the same day.
00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:56.240
And perhaps happiness is not getting rid of everything unpleasant, but maybe it's about becoming better at spotting the good moments when they appear.
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:08.000
This week's little happiness challenge, I want you to, I want you to notice three unplanned moments of happiness in your life.
00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:11.599
We spend so much of life trying to get somewhere else.
00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.880
The next trip, the next event, the next goal, the next season.
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:19.119
But an awful lot of happiness is in between those big moments.
00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:35.039
It happens in the kitchen, the car, the grocery store, the phone, in bed with clean sheets, on the porch with a cool breeze, and a shared laugh, and a first sip of something cold, and that quiet moment when the house settles down for the night.
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:38.480
Maybe happiness is not always something we have to chase.
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:42.559
Maybe sometimes it's already sitting beside us, waiting for us to notice it.
00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:51.119
And maybe today the most important thing we can do is take a breath, look around, and say, wow, this is nice.
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:54.400
Thank you for joining me today on Inside Marcy's Mind.
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:56.880
I know this was a little longer than usual podcast.
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:58.160
I hope you enjoyed it.
00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:03.039
I hope this episode helped you notice at least one little thing that makes your life better.
00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:09.199
This week we enjoy the clean sheets, we drink the Diet Coke, we stand in the breeze and notice it.
00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:15.119
Use the good cup, wear the soft jammies, and eat that surprise French fry.
00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:20.000
Your life does not have to be perfect to maintain perfectly wonderful moments.
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To contain, excuse me, perfectly wonderful moments.
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Please follow or subscribe wherever you listen.
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Share this episode with a friend who appreciates life's little pleasures, and leave a review.
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It helps more people find the show and join our conversations.
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Reviews are important and I do appreciate them.
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Until next time, keep laughing, keep noticing, and remember sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference.
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Go out there and do something positive.