Every Saturday… well, most Saturday nights, I settle in to write the Let It Be Sunday post for you. It’s my favorite time of the week when I let a quiet settle over my mind and catch up on the million and three tabs I have open in my browser. A few hours usually take me late into the night and I click publish on a list of reads that hopefully feels important, frivolous, beautiful, and useful.
In my mind, you pry open your laptop at the tiny round table in your sunny kitchen having just set down a steaming cup of coffee you’ve made. In my mind you have the time and space to take in what you need before… I dunno… going off to make banana bread. I know life isn’t always that fresh and easy but I hope occasionally it is.
However you come to it, I’m so thankful you do. You come and stay for a while and leave truly the most thoughtful and encouraging comments for me and one another.
Last week Katelyn left this encouragement, “Ask for help. Give it freely. Kindness grows exponentially. Life, even when itโs hard, is so good. Thank you, Joy, for your thoughtful authenticity.”
I thought to myself HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW:
โข Kindness does grow exponentially.
โข Live is hard and is so so good.
And WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW?
โข Laughing until we cry is one of the best feelings in the world.
โข Being curious about one another helps us live better together.
โข Three deep breaths is a simple way to remember we’re alive.
โข Loving big is so scary and such a risk and really the only way to love.
โข We can choose to carry love into everything.
This is an endless list. Will you help?
What do you know? Will you leave it in the comments below? I think the roundup will encourage us all.
My LOVE to you!
xo Joy
* The above picture is from a Drake on Cake workshop in California a few weeks ago. I support the sentiment on this cake but not Drake’s lyrics directly after those pictured. lol.
148 Responses
I usually save up a few of your Let It Be Sunday posts for my weekend shifts at the library and then spend hours reading your links. They help the time pass and always give me a bigger sense of the world (and usually a few tasty things to make throughout the week.) They also help me remember than I’m here to help people, and that the work I do at the library is part of the greater good, even if I am just helping people find books and not saving their lives.
I think it’s important that we all remember that little kindness’s matter and that even a small act of kindness can go a long way.
Thank you for always writing such inspiring and mouthwatering posts. You’re an inspiration to me and my tiny kitchen.
Life is hard but God is good … all the time.
The other day I was feeling particularly down about the state of things and how it all seems like So. Much. pretty much all of the time. Then I watched my two-year-old twins play. They traded stickers back and forth for 20 minutes without talking until Hannah got one stuck to her leg and, when she couldn’t get it off, Reva said, “It’s okay, Hannah. I help.” That was it. That was all I needed that day. Unintentional words of advice from a two-year-old about kindness and patience. “I help.”
It always amazes me how much better children are at life in general.
That being kind is more important than being nice. Often we are told to ‘be nice’, which suggests we should give up our own feelings and boundaries to make others comfortable. Being kind, to me, allows us to hold tight to our own feelings, and take those of others into account as well. I strive to be kind to others while being kind to myself.
This is very astute. Thanks for the thought.
I love that even in Australia, where we are 14 hours ahead, I can still read your ‘Let it be Sunday’ posts.
What I know:
– Kindness is the most important thing. If I have a busy to do list that is worrying me, at the top I add ‘Be kind’. If I can achieve that, I am happy. Regardless of everything else, there is always time to be kind (but sometimes being kindest to ourselves is hardest but too is important).
– Taking a moment of gratitude is so helpful. I was talking to a friend about how we are constantly over-worked and tired. But then realised that if as struggling students 10 years we could see where we were now, we would be grateful, excited and so proud of ourselves.
– Getting perspective is so important. We can become so consumed with the stressors in everyday life. But the simple things, many of which you take the time to write so lovingly about, are so important.e.g., the sun, a good friend, a great recipe, taking the time to enjoy a favourite meal, laughing with a loved one.
Thank you Joy. I have been reading for many years, and even when the world and politics look bleak, I feel such a sense of community when I read your Let it Be posts and see not only are you fierce, but you refer to other brave women such as G&K from the MFM podcast,
Much love.
Bec
Kindness is always the answer.
Take the time to play with children and animals. When you do, go all in. They know so much more about life than we do.
Also,
take a moment to watch the light ripple on water, or sit under a tree and watch the shadow of the leaves dance on the grass around you. Or listen to the dripping, dropping rain.
Life is good, even though we sometimes have to actively look for that goodness.