beautiful stuff, thank you kindly. looking at a little winter coming up right now, the chance to observe the "quality of my experience when there isn’t beauty and life all around to keep you busy" sparked some peaceful anticipation of the next season even if there's not too many roses around. staying curious throughout the entirety of the year, instead of spending all of winter imagining how much nicer it would be to have summer right now. at least that's the intention, we'll see how it goes :)
I enjoyed reading this article. It’s sort of a philosophy I use to remember how it could all start or end in a flash. Great article. As a new writer on substack, this inspires me.
“Because of their fleeting nature, they are not to be dismissed, postponed or to be put off until you feel like you have earned them, or until you feel worthy of enjoying them. Conversely, they do not wait for you at all.”
I really resonate with this.
When I was young my family would get fresh fruit delivered regularly, often getting more than what we could consume. My mom would always ask me to finish the old fruit first before eating the new ones. Her reasoning was that I shouldn’t waste food. But because of this, eating fruit was not pleasant, as I was always eating old fruit while looking at the fresh ones longingly. It felt like fresh fruit was something I needed to work for.
One day I asked her, what if we just toss the old fruit and eat the new fruit instead? This way we will just throw away a small amount, but can actually enjoy the fresh fruit every week. It was a difficult proposal, but my mom let me try eventually. Fresh fruit tasted so good that I ended up eating way more every week and we stopped having leftover altogether.
What I learned was that happiness is a matter of choice. More often than not when we feel out of breath as we run towards a goal, and promise ourselves the leisure only after achieving something, we end up enjoying neither the work nor the leisure (that is, if we end up finding time for leisure at all before working for the next goal). But if we allow ourselves the small breaks to breathe and enjoy life, we might end up enjoying work much better and have a happier life altogether. For most people I’ve seen, the barrier to this type of joy is only self-imposed.
It takes writings like yours to make people aware and feel empowered to choose happiness for themselves. Thanks for sharing! :)
For the past couple weeks I've been feeling this tension of trying to "stay productive" while also enjoying all the summer activities happening in Barcelona.
Nice reminder that when everything is buzzing is a moment to slow down, thanks Isabel :)
I absolutely adore your writing in general, but this one just really hits that gorgeous sweet spot. 🥹
It was beautiful, although I'm far from the blossoming phase for now!
beautiful stuff, thank you kindly. looking at a little winter coming up right now, the chance to observe the "quality of my experience when there isn’t beauty and life all around to keep you busy" sparked some peaceful anticipation of the next season even if there's not too many roses around. staying curious throughout the entirety of the year, instead of spending all of winter imagining how much nicer it would be to have summer right now. at least that's the intention, we'll see how it goes :)
Thank you for this wonderful piece :)
loved this one especially
you rock Isabel
what a writer!!!
I enjoyed reading this article. It’s sort of a philosophy I use to remember how it could all start or end in a flash. Great article. As a new writer on substack, this inspires me.
“Because of their fleeting nature, they are not to be dismissed, postponed or to be put off until you feel like you have earned them, or until you feel worthy of enjoying them. Conversely, they do not wait for you at all.”
I really resonate with this.
When I was young my family would get fresh fruit delivered regularly, often getting more than what we could consume. My mom would always ask me to finish the old fruit first before eating the new ones. Her reasoning was that I shouldn’t waste food. But because of this, eating fruit was not pleasant, as I was always eating old fruit while looking at the fresh ones longingly. It felt like fresh fruit was something I needed to work for.
One day I asked her, what if we just toss the old fruit and eat the new fruit instead? This way we will just throw away a small amount, but can actually enjoy the fresh fruit every week. It was a difficult proposal, but my mom let me try eventually. Fresh fruit tasted so good that I ended up eating way more every week and we stopped having leftover altogether.
What I learned was that happiness is a matter of choice. More often than not when we feel out of breath as we run towards a goal, and promise ourselves the leisure only after achieving something, we end up enjoying neither the work nor the leisure (that is, if we end up finding time for leisure at all before working for the next goal). But if we allow ourselves the small breaks to breathe and enjoy life, we might end up enjoying work much better and have a happier life altogether. For most people I’ve seen, the barrier to this type of joy is only self-imposed.
It takes writings like yours to make people aware and feel empowered to choose happiness for themselves. Thanks for sharing! :)
Thanks for this thoughtful essay Isabel. It also made me grateful that I get to experience all four seasons!
This essay spoke to my soul on so many levels.
For the past couple weeks I've been feeling this tension of trying to "stay productive" while also enjoying all the summer activities happening in Barcelona.
Nice reminder that when everything is buzzing is a moment to slow down, thanks Isabel :)