The Docsplainer

Daily writing prompt

List 30 things that make you happy.

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Stressbusters™️

I do this anyway, in a way, listing things that bring me joy every day. Adjacent to that, there’s research that suggests that listing three things you have gratitude for first thing in the morning and last thing at night can help your moods and sleep. So I usually share these techniques with my classes in various Stressbusters™️that appear at the top of the modules across the semester. (A Stressbuster™️is just what it sounds like: A way to bust your stress, and I put them at the top of the modules because people learn better when they are calm, centered, and present. I’ll be sharing some of them here this fall.)

So flipping through my bullet journal for a list of 30 is gonna be fun!

1. Hummingbirds, fattening up at my feeders in late summer, getting ready for fall migration.
2. Coyotes yipping at night, owls hooting; falling asleep to the sounds of crickets and tree frogs.
3. My son’s cooking.
4. My parrot running through her repertoire with her whole chest.
5. Good movies.
6. Jazz.
7. Star Trek. Murderbot.
8. Fall semester starting.
9. Pajama days.
10. My bullet journals.
11. Books. Reading!
12. When old students call to catch up and I hear that they are happy and doing well.
13. Rainy days.
14. Getting positive feedback on my teaching.
15. Working in the yard.
16. Getting Queen Bee in The New York Times Spelling Bee.
17. Keeping a Good Deeds book (I’m a nicer person than I generally give myself credit for).
18. A healthy cushion of cash on hand for the first time in my adult life, and little debt.
19. Fall migration. Spring migration. Any migration.
20. Writing.
21. Taking pictures. My new lens makes me happy. Heck, a new filter can make me happy!
22. Students.
23. A good night’s sleep.
24. Obsidian: I know that sounds crazy, but a good notes app is literally like a little kid playing in a sandbox for me.
25. Ginger tea. A good cup of coffee. Hot cocoa.
26. Routines.
27. My waterbed (I know, that dates me).
28. Family. Friends.
29. Meditating.
30. Just being alive! (I know that sounds hokey, but. I’ve had a virus that landed me in the hospital for months, fallen off my horse and landed on my head, flown on a plane with the engine on fire, survived a shooting at the office, and had cancer, but I’m still alive. And so I’m just happy to still be here when I wake up in the morning.)

I only had to go back about six weeks to find all these (there are a lot of repeats on the pages). And I was right, it was fun! Did you enjoy making your list?