Things That Spark Joy
String Lights
A few weeks ago, I shared a post about how I came to practice minimalism. Still, there are things in my home that may not serve a daily function or purpose beyond the fact that they bring me joy. Here are a few:
I love string lights. They’re my favorite part of Christmas, and I thought, why don’t I do that all year? Well, it can get quite expensive, it turns out, but I do have a couple strands of string lights that I’ve hung up in my living room. When it gets dark out, I like to turn them on and cozy up on my couch.
This little bowl was a gift from my friend when she came back from Mexico. I use it as a place to put my keys next to my door.
These chopsticks were a gift from a teacher nearly a decade ago. She gifted everyone in her class a pair of chopsticks after returning from China. I’m terrible at using them for eating, so they’ve decorated a few different plant pots since then.
My keys are starting to get a little heavy with trinkets, but almost all of them were gifted to me by someone different. I get to carry a little piece of my relationship with my friends and family anywhere I go, which is nice. The blue bead is my Cyclops Eye. It came attached to a string as a bonus “bracelet” with a t-shirt I purchased while in Athens, Greece. I don’t have the t-shirt anymore, but I tied the bead to my keys, so I can always carry a reminder of my visit to a place that is so important to me.
This magnet was also a gift (you might notice a trend in some of these things...). It came from the Viking museum in Oslo, Norway. My Norwegian friend who took me there gave it to me, saying it looked like her (which it does). My cat insists on knocking down anything it pins to the fridge, so it has sat as my lone fridge decoration for the last four years.
This big mug has been retired from my kitchen. Its handle is starting to separate at the base, and I’d rather not risk spilling hot chocolate all over my lightly-colored carpet. Still, I’m a sucker for cute mugs, so it sits on a shelf currently holding a candle inside.
Speaking of cute things, I had to get this Nessie-shaped tea infuser. My fascination with lake monsters has been featured heavily in my writing, including my visits to Loch Ness and Lake Champlain. I like to have things that are little references to other parts of my life. Any time I drink tea, I am reminded of my writing.