Our Networks of Joy — Air & Roots

(the amazing shirt featured above is being worn by an even more amazing human, my friend and colleague, Kris. Thank you Kris, for spreading such an important message)

Probably like most of us, I spent the day with my crew. My immediate family, my sister and her kids, my Mom and my Grandma. I know I am so lucky that we are all together, in good health and spirits. After a full day of kid sounds (the best) and food and watching my Grandma laugh uncontrollably at a rogue hacky sack that smacked me in the face, I thought back to my realization about my network of joy.

Network of Joy? Yep. That's what I'm calling it. The people we interact with daily that make us smile. The interactions we have daily that make us, and others, better off and more fulfilled. When I started thinking about how many people, things and moments bring me joy over the course of a day, I started really realizing how much good there still is in this world.

Here is what started it: the other day as I left the market I visit every morning, I realized I was walking out with a full-fledged smile on my face. It was because I had yet another fun interaction with the employees that I see day after day.

For the next few days I really took stock of the things that feed my happy.

I wake up and see my tribe. My hard-working husband, my dogs (both which come put their faces in mine from the side of the bed every single day) and my Son who always wakes up hungry. A growing boy, hungry for food (and all things life) and I get to nourish this exceptional being.

I let my dogs out and while we're out back, my neighbor and incredible friend Laura almost always walks by with her dogs. She normally shouts something like 'good morning fart knocker!' to which I reply with something like, 'well aloha poop face!' Probably because we are both boy moms. And it makes us laugh.

We drive to school and on the way we see the same man every morning on the same corner. He's always holding a brightly colored sign that says 'You Are Awesome.' Some days I have something for him, some days I only have a smile. But I'm pretty sure he appreciates it and always gives one back. In a town with a significant homeless population, I can't tell you how many times I've been thanked for simply returning a smile. It's so simple and goes a long way.

Once at school drop off, I see all of the familiar faces. Most every morning there are a couple of hugs, loads of waves and smiles and me cheering on the same Dad who runs in every morning after the bell, with his boy cracking up laughing on his shoulders. I would imagine anyone in a 5 mile radius could feel the happiness radiating off of that boy.

As I'm driving out, I wave at the same gentleman in the blue truck that I've waved at every morning for the last 2 years. I'm not entirely sure how it started, but at some point we began waving and smiling as I drive away and he watches the buzz of the school yard after his Son heads in. One morning we finally spoke and he simply said 'I know we wave everyday and we've never met. I just wanted to tell you that you seem so happy. You walk so peppy and I told my wife about how you're always smiling.' I notice days that he's not there and I assume he notices my absence as well.

Then I head to the market on my way to work for my daily yogurt and kombucha (get on that train if you haven't yet. ha!). A few months ago, one of the employees said good morning and asked how I was and I returned the question. He responded with 'I'm wonderful! This morning I got the chance to wake up and the chance to see a smile like yours!' It wasn't creepy. He wasn't hitting on me. It was genuine and warm. A few weeks later, I found him and thanked him for what he said and every morning since, when I see him, he pats his heart and says good morning with a vigor we all could use to conquer our days. A lot of mornings he is singing and a lot of mornings he's just randomly saying things like 'lucky to be alive!' And all of us around him are lucky for his reminders.

And then work. For all the stress and deadlines and crazy that come with it, I am lucky enough to say that I get to work with people I consider my best friends. We crack jokes, we have one another's backs, we ask about each other's kids and husbands and remind one another to schedule doctors appointments. It's pretty great.

After work I pick up my Son from my Mom's house. My Mom warrants a post (or 1,000 posts) but in a nutshell, she's hands-down the most incredible human to walk the earth and the love and care she gives my Son and my niece and nephew is beautiful times a trillion. We'll leave that there for now but every time I pull up to get him, I feel grateful. Every. Single. Time.

Because I'm horrible at doing grocery shopping that allows us to eat for more than 2 days (truly, I don't know why I can't buy more than apples and almond milk and turkey), we normally cruise by the grocery a few times a week. We talk to one of the employees who is a Mom of one of my Son's classmates. We catch up on funny things about the kids and commiserate on how we can't figure out elementary school level math.

And then there are a million things in between like seeing these little dudes every single day on our drive home. Their cuteness never tires.

And normally in the evening or at some point in the day, I exchange a text or two from my soul-sister Tanja. Just a sweet check-in between friends that reminds one another we are thought of and so valued and not alone in the busy of life. I'm going to give due credit to Tanja for starting the check-in texts and I can't tell you how much they mean to me. Thank you T, if you're reading this.

There are more. So many more. My hope is that you'll take stock in your day. I know it's not always rainbows so when in need of a reminder of the good of this fine world and existence, really think about the moments of your day. My hope is that you'll realize you're smiling a good bit, even if for blips at a time. That you're connected to more people than you think. Even though I'm not hanging out with the fellow Mom and grocery store Cashier on the weekends, I care about her. I care about her well-being and that of her kids. She has become a part of my network of joy AND caring, and I'm thankful. Who fills your network? Maybe let them know and let your heart keep expanding.

And today, I'll also leave you with this from the Dalai Lama:

"The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness."

Truth.

Blue Skies and Best,

Sarah