I’ve had an obsession recently with coffee cups. I don’t know if it’s a writer thing or simply a new fascination, but I’ve been on a coffee cup buying frenzy. I don’t even drink coffee! I am, however, a tea drinker and I believe that gives me the right to continue collecting new mugs.
Today my daughter and I ventured to Home Goods, a decision which I regretted the moment I realized my cart was overflowing with miscellaneous items that were not necessary to my existence. Among the various paraphernalia could be found more than one new coffee mug. I’d bought three new ones on my Marshal’s run the prior weekend, so it wasn’t as if I needed another. Yet there they were being happily scanned and looking forward to their placement among their fellow mugs who currently adorn my cabinet shelves.
Today’s eye-opening purchasing event had me thinking about the random, unnecessary things I purchase for no other reason than to make myself happy. There’s a feel-good high that comes with bringing home something that serves no real purpose than bringing an occasional smile to our faces. We don’t NEED these things, we were going along quite happily in our lives without them, but something about that idea of adding them to our lives makes it essential to bring them home.
My bookshelves are lined with figurines – Rapunzel, Belle, Daenerys. My walls are decorated with illustrations of Rapunzel and Belle. Do I need these things to survive…no, I don’t truly. Nevertheless, I continue to purchase them, adding more to my collection as I come across them. Why? Because they make me happy. I smile when I look at my figurines. The illustrations lift my spirit. They’re little things in this big world of unexpected turns and twists. Little things that bring a small ray of happiness to my day. Things that make the outside influences seem a little less threatening.
Take the little things in life, hold onto the things that make you happy, and search for a reason to smile each day, no matter how quick or small that moment may be.
Until next time…