Magic Mood Boosters for March and Beyond
Happy Friday, friend.
In last week’s message, I mentioned that I’ve been sorely in need of a pick-me-up lately. A little bird tells me I’m not alone. It’s March, after all, and “beware the Ides of March” isn’t for nothing.
After all, if we know anything, we know that sometimes we have to fight for joy. Thankfully, sometimes it fights for us, too.
This week, two tried and true mood-boosters I’ve been working at for years worked their magic on me, brought me so much joy, and picked me up in all the best ways. So, I thought I’d share them with you in case you need them too. . .
#1 — Diving into a new hobby
I’ve wanted to grow my own veggies for years, but I thought I had a brown thumb because every time I tried to have a house plant, it died, which gave me a major case of can’t. Until last year, when we moved into our new home—a place with heaps of sun, a little raised bed, and loads of flowers.
Last summer, my trial garden gave me a few veggies and heaps of joy, so this year, I decided I’d go all-in on my new gardening hobby, start everything from seed in my kitchen window, and even build a little greenhouse (more on that soon!).
According to my two favorite gardening teachers—Epic Gardening and Fedco Seeds, right now is the ideal time in Maine to start peppers, onions, basil, lavender, and tomatoes in seed trays inside. So, I spent last Saturday afternoon reading the instructions, getting my hands dirty, and setting up my seed trays in the kitchen window.
Then, yesterday morning, ohmygoodiegoodness, I woke up to heaps of tomato seedlings popping through. And today, one tiny basil seedling is up, too!
I can’t wait to see what happens next—whether I succeed or fail, this kind of curiosity and excitement feels like living instead of letting life pass me by. Which reminds me of this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:
“If a child’s curiosity is not fed, if [her] questions are not answered, [she] will stop asking questions. And then, by the time [she] is in [her] middle twenties, [she] will stop wondering about all the mysteries of his world. [Her] curiosity will be dead. . . Without that spirit of adventure, life can be a dull business. With it, there is no situation, however limiting, physically or economically, which cannot be filled to the brim with interest.”
Count me in, Eleanor—I’m on a plant adventure!
#2 — Leveling up my gratitude practice
You already know I’m a HUGE fan of journaling. I’ve been writing daily “grateful lists” in my custom vision journals for years now, and it has changed my life in so many ways I can’t even begin to name them all. But this year, I decided to try a small shift — I moved away from vision board journaling and leveled up my daily gratitude journaling practice with a Sprocket mini photo printer.
Now I get to capture small moments I’m grateful for in tiny photos each week to go along with my words, and it’s become a HUGE mood-booster to look back on everything I’m grateful for each morning while sipping my coffee.
I don’t try to photograph everything, just a few special moments here and there. Three months into this new practice, I’m discovering so many things, the most important of which is this—Saving my best moments in my journals feels 100% more rewarding than giving them away on social media. It’s like having a gratitude journal 2.0.
That’s it, my friend—a couple of simple things bringing joy. So, I’ll just be over here doing a little gardening and gratitude journaling until all of these false springs turn into the real thing and I can be outside more (the ultimate mood-booster!).
If you decide to give new hobbies and gratitude journaling a try, I hope they work their magic on you, too. And should you want to chat about it, about anything really, I’m here.
Always.
💛
Celeste
