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 it’s hard, is so good. Thank you, Joy, for your thoughtful authenticity.”
I thought to myself HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW:
• Kindness does grow exponentially.
• Live is hard and is so so good.
And WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW?
• Laughing until we cry is one of the best feelings in the world.
• Being curious about one another helps us live better together.
• Three deep breaths is a simple way to remember we’re alive.
• Loving big is so scary and such a risk and really the only way to love.
• 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.
Linda L
This is my current favorite
At the deepest levels he creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer. Rachel Naomi Reven
Peggy Cone
“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen was right.
amy
Sunday morning…while the house is still quiet and the rest of the family is sleeping, I pour my coffee, I open my laptop & I look for “Let it Be” in the list of unread blogs. Your posts (well, & let’s be honest…sleeping kiddos, a brief reprieve of the constant activity & needs of others & a good cup of coffee!) set the tone for my Sundays. Some days I take 3, 4, 5 things that I need, some days there are things I can’t wait to share with those I love and some days there is just a slight smile & a heart of gratitude for this weekly practice that you share with the world….important, frivolous, beautiful and useful…yes! But also genuine, honest and good.
Some weeks when I think this world is a cold, awful, place and that we are all going straight to hell, I will read a link from Let it Be and my belief in humanity is restored (last week it was The Crane Wife…a few weeks before that it was the story about the college student who had been bedridden for 11 years & discovered a cure for his illness).
Thank you for sharing each week…thank you for the gift you give! I found your website years ago because of a random recipe someone forwarded me…your spirit, your realness, you just being you is the reason I’m still here! My love to you! ~ Amy
Jean Kastanek
Your beautiful words express exactly how I feel. Thanks for sharing.
Rena
Although the table in our kitchen is a big one I always love your Sunday posts! Thank you!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com
Katie
I love the idealized version of your Let It Be Sunday post readings :)
Here’s what I know: Learning how to say no to things from time to time is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself.
Raluca
Yes. This is being smart AND kind.
Jaclyn Levy
The only way to the light at the end of the tunnel if through the darkness. I’ve been through some tough stuff this summer but I knew I needed to let myself feel all the feelings before I could get better. Our society can often put on a lot of pressure to be happy happy happy all the time, but it’s ok to let yourself feel the full breadth of emotions we have at our disposal. They serve a purpose and can help in the healing process. ?? Happy Thursday!
Doris Goldberg
A health scare can be the greatest gift. My breast cancer diagnosis clearly put into focus the most important things in my
life-my health (physical, mental, and emotional), and my family. If I am ever again tempted to lose my focus, for whatever reason, I only need to see that huge scar on my chest to remind me once again of what’s truly precious.
Melanie
Sunshine on your face can make you so happy, even for a few minutes!
Debby Benterud
John Denver
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely!
Sunshine almost all the time, makes me high
If I had a day that I could give to you …
I give to you a day just like today
I know that each day is precious and full and its a gift – the present.
Judy
The love of a dog makes anything in life better.(or cats perhaps, if that’s your cuppa, but I am horribly allergic, so never shared my home with them….)
Tiberia
Or bunnies :)
Jess Melgey
Amen to that!
Amy
Basically any creature (or plant) that makes your heart sing! :)
Christine
If we can remember these things: “we are more than the worst things we have ever done,” (Bryan Stevenson) and we all laugh, cry, love, and dream, the other stuff doesn’t really matter. We can build bridges over it.
Dolores Batz-Culp
I think the second bullet should say “Life” not Live..
My quote is from my dearly departed Mom, who died too soon, but imparted wisdom in her short time with me.
• You can learn something from everyone.
My addition to it is, “Even if it is how not to be.”
Ulla
This.
Rachel
I love your Sunday posts Joy. I really appreciate that you post them when you do, so that over here in England I can rad it with my Sunday morning coffee and crumpets :)
Sandy
I don’t have a quote to offer right now, but I do have validation that how you envision your “Let It be Sunday” posts received, you are spot on! They help make my Sunday mornings complete (with coffee!) before I take on the day. Thank you for being thoughtful and taking the time (hours?) to compile and compose your Sunday “love letter”. xo
Courtney
A child’s laughter can make most problems, for the shortest of seconds, seem not so bad.
Anne
Spending time in nature is magical and good for the soul. The beauty there is endless and breath taking.