Looking forward . . .

finding joy in the ordinary

Blackberry Bloom (in the dead of winter) © Kathryn LeRoy

Hello friends,

Everywhere you look, you can see good, nothing, or a nuisance. Your state of mind, outlook, and the eyes you chose for this morning make all the difference.

When the clock rolled over to 2024, I stood in the same spot I had only seconds before. Nothing changed, and everything changed. A new day, a new month, a new year quietly slipped by bound by joy and hope, but only if you looked for it.

A Single Pinecone © Kathryn LeRoy

I’m always up for a challenge, so I chose to take a photograph (at least one) each day. My goal is two-fold. First, I want to test my skill in finding joy in my daily routines, ordinary, often mundane moments and sights.

Second, I want to improve how I capture the light, the composition, the heart and soul of what I see. I’m looking for wonder. The more pain, sorrow, and hatred I see around me, the more I want to search for and celebrate the opposite—compassion, kindness, justice, wholeness, and always, joy.

Foggy Morning © Kathryn LeRoy

You may think this a fool’s journey, but you may be surprised by how the least significant word or object can change despair into cause for jubilation. Well, hyperbolic perhaps, but at least I feel a shift in attitude and can face whatever comes my way.

Looking forward offers hope.

A Spot of Sunshine © Kathryn LeRoy

Perspective changes everything—two views.

Ingred Fetell Lee explains where joy hides and how to find it.

You transform all who are touched by you. Mundane concerns, troubles, and sorrows dissolve in your presence, bringing JOY.
—Rumi

Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you—and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because actually, nothing does.
—George Saunders

Shadow Selfie © Kathryn LeRoy

Find a little joy this week.

With gratitude,

Kathryn

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