Joy, Goodness, and Growth (and How to Handle Uncertainty)

I was honored to take part in a new interview series my friend Keri Wilt of The Well-Tended Life is doing on finding and remembering the joy, goodness, and growth in our lives. The series was inspired by a quote from her great-great-grandmother Frances Hodgson Burnett’s book The Secret Garden: “Mistress Mary always felt that however many years she lived she should NEVER FORGET that first morning when her garden began to grow.”

We had a great time talking about these topics and I wanted to share the interview with you in case you’d like to check it out. She also has several other episodes completed, and I’ve found each one very inspiring and helpful.

One of the issues I talked about is how I’ve dealt with the uncertainty of these past few months by letting go of my need to control what’s going on (always a challenge for me!!). Here is the process that I came up with for doing that:

I do my best to release my expectations of what should happen, and my need to control what is going on.

I allow whatever is happening to be, whether or not I like it, and I accept the current reality without trying to change it.

And I trust that everything is going to be OK.

This approach has been invaluable in helping me navigate the anxiety of not knowing what is going to happen next (when I am able to remember to do it!).

You can watch the interview on her YouTube channel here. It’s also available in podcast format (“The Well-Tended Life”), available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher; find links here.

Wishing you an abundance of joy and goodness!

Remembering Joy and Goodness

My friend Keri Wilt, great-great-granddaughter of Frances Hodgson Burnett and author of the blog FHB and Me, recently sent out this post and I wanted to share it with you. She has some wonderful ideas about how we can remind ourselves every day of all the joy and goodness in our lives.

She quotes writer Marianne Williamson, who said, “Joy is what happens when we allows ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” This is truly the key to feeling joy every day. Even during tough times, we can always find something positive to appreciate. I think you’ll love Keri’s idea for gathering up goodness!

Read her full post here.

Unexpected Joy

Today I’m sharing a link to this week’s post by Keri Wilt at FHB and Me, who I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when I shared a guest post I had written for her blog (see that post here). I was really struck by her topic this week—unexpected joy—and  her theory that not only is joy more exquisite when it’s a surprise, but we can create unexpected joy ourselves by giving it to others (such as with random acts of kindness or silliness).

I love this idea, and am now imagining ways in which I can spread some happiness around in my corner of the world. Just the thought of it brings me joy. Read what Keri has to say and see if it inspires you as well: “Unexpected Joy: Make It Happen.”

I'm a Guest Blogger!

I was honored to be asked to write a guest blog post for my friend, fellow Lucky Star camper and writer Keri Wilt (who is featured in chapter 2 of my book A Beautiful Morning and is pictured below).

I have been enjoying Keri’s blog for over two years. She named it FHB and Me because her great-great-grandmother is Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and many other beloved children's classics. I don’t know about you, but I adored those books when I was younger. I re-read The Secret Garden after meeting Keri, and found even more meaning in it as an adult.

As Keri says, she "blows the book dust off [FHB's] inspiring words and legendary life, then mixes them with her personal stories for a multigenerational twist on the everyday." The post I wrote for FHB and Me is titled “Discover the Magic in Your Mornings” and you can read it here. Then take a moment to check out some of Keri’s posts—they are always thought-provoking and inspirational, and I find that they generate a lot of what she calls “head bob moments”! Enjoy!