Post One

I have always been able to focus on the little things. Whether it is a smile from a stranger crossing the street or the first sip of iced coffee at 7:30 in the morning, I believe that those minuscule and ~frankly~ often unnoticed moments make life the most beautiful.

Many know me as Gwen, the girl that wishes on every single dandelion. The girl who dances and sings to old Taylor Swift in the grocery store (doesn’t matter who is watching). The girl that screams out the car window yelling “CONGRATULATIONS” to a bride walking up the steps to a chapel. The girl who wears some form of light blue every day and bounds around in an aqua colored Jeep blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd. The girl who laughs so loudly in any school assembly or quiet movie theatre. The list goes on and on. I am that girl full-heartedly, but sadly with the state the world has been in and some challenges I have had to work through, I have found myself less of the Gwen I know I am.

It is against my nature not to find and share the hidden joy of my days, weeks, and years. So I am here to write about the overlooked things. I want to write about the good in the world when there seems to be not much of it. Tragedy and hate have been consuming our everyday lives, and it just has become this lens to view life through. I am so guilty of this, which happens to be unlike me, and I find myself focusing on the bad far more than the good. I have recently allowed the poor elements and actions that have taken place in my life, define who I am now. For so long, I lost touch with what brings me the most pleasure, and I have come to realize that I need to remind myself and others of those things much more often.

I don’t know a ton about what I want to be, or how I want to pave my path, but I know that I need to share light somehow. I need to share the things that bring me great pleasure and purpose because I want people to recognize the joy that is everywhere, no matter how big or small. I want to give more attention to the tiny details in life that make it worth living.

Joy is in the laugh of your best friend, the bark of your dog when you come home, the “thank you” to every compliment you give, the hug you receive after the worst day, the cookie dough you overeat when you watch Rom Coms, the satisfaction you feel when you finish a good book. Joy is the wisp of every single dandelion in the air planting themselves to make new wishes. The list is infinite, and I plan to share all those simple joys and pleasures as much as possible.

I am fully aware that life is not all rainbows and butterflies. I have feared loss, and I have survived it. I have prayed for happiness when feeling empty, and I have seen the light in the darkest times. I like many, get so angry at the world (recently, more often than not). There is so much unnecessary hurt, and people that hate, and actions that don’t reflect kindness. Finding the silver lining can be almost impossible, and when I find myself not being able to trace that cloud, I get scared, which is why I am here now… trying to change that.