In No Particular Order

Here is a list of things that make me sad.

• The birthday party no one attends—whether it’s mine or someone else’s, even someone on television or in a book.  Breaks my heart every time.
• Dead animals at the side of the road.  Even possums.
• ASPCA ads.
• When my cat won’t sit with me.  (This happens often.)
• When I really want something specific to eat like waffles but we are out of a necessary component like syrup.
• When I have finished a stack of exciting new books and have to try and make myself excited about older ones.
• Getting stuck in my writing.
• When someone thinks I am unkind, or prejudiced, or selfish.
• When I hear from an old friend and realize I don’t know them anymore.
• When my friends are sad and I don’t know what to say to make them feel better.

Here is a list of things that make me happy.

• A neat rotation of things that I use—plates, bookmarks, t-shirts—so that none of them get used more often than any of the others.
• Scratching my back, and finally reaching that spot that has been bothering me.
• When my hair has been straightened and it looks nice without my having to do anything but comb it.
• New pens or colored markers or highlighters.
• Crossing things off my to-do list.
• When someone has done something nice for me without my asking for it.
• Adding things to my journal, whether they’re pictures or poems or quotes or new ideas.
• When my cat comes and sits on my lap and purrs.  (A rare privilege.)
• Finding a new book, movie, or show that I really love.  Or re-discovering an old book, movie, or show, and realizing I’d forgotten just how good it was.
• Flowers that smell sweet.
• A cool breeze on a sunny day.
• Pushing through a place where I’ve been stuck in my story.
• When someone tells me that they enjoyed my writing.
• When I hear from an old friend and they are just as loving and wonderful as I remember them.
• When I say something to my friends and it is exactly what they needed to hear.