Looking for Whimsy

Let’s face it, times are stressful. I don’t know about you, but when I’m stressed, I get depressed and negative and cranky. All the mean little voices in me pick up their volume and though I can sometimes remember to be kind to others, it’s too easy to forget that I need tender attention also.

One of my friends I used to sing bedside with had a beautiful phrase. At the end of a sing, she would smile gently at the wife or daughter or husband. “Be tender with yourself,” she’d say. “This is such a hard time.”

This is a hard time. I know it. You know it. But do we know how to be sweet to ourselves? Tender? Gentle? Kind? We are humans with so many failings. I feel like it would be a very good habit to say to myself, “Thank you, Mathilda, for getting up this morning. Bravo! Go ahead and have another piece of chocolate.”

My last post talked about needing a reset button in order to find HOPE. Lately I’ve found one that works for me, at least for now. My reset button is whimsy. If you’ve followed many of my posts, especially the early ones, you’ll know that I adore what sparks my imagination and puts a giggle in my heart. To me, whimsy is something that doesn’t quite fit the norm or the expected. Because it’s a surprise, it brings with it an element of delight. So my new strategy is to LOOK FOR IT.

Like this:

Just a decorated sculpture in my neighborhood–but how fun to notice it! And I only noticed because I was looking. I now put “LOOK FOR WHIMSY” on my goals for each day! It’s amazing where I can find it.

A flamingo hides in a friend’s backyard.

A funky green thing inserted into a colorful birthday bouquet. So yes, sometimes whimsy is a gift given.

I’ll tell you something. I have polkadots on my car, because I have always liked the ridiculous. But shortly after COVID shutdown one of the biggest passions of my life (bedside singing), some mystery person put google eyes on the dots.

 

 

 

That small and wonderful act of kindness, that shared whimsy, has cheered me up for months.

 

 

 

Some other kind soul put a painted pebble in my garden. I bet it’s been there a while, but I just noticed it the other day. CALM, it says. Thank you.

And look at the effort that went into creating this elaborate configuration, another neighborhood gem.

Seeing something like that gives me hope for humanity–and hope for my own survival.

What does it for you? Curious folk want to know.

from https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-cute-dog-spotting-pics/

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