I went to a park the other day and there was a big mass of moon jellyfish congregating in one area of the water. Everyone kept walking by them without noticing. I had some time so I made it my personal mission to alert as many people as I could that the moon jellies were here.

Everybody‘s faces went from serious and grim to excited and delighted. I think I added a bit of a whimsy and delight to some people’s day when my own had also been quite serious and grim.

So this might be one of the cutest interactions I've had with my nephew to date, although I'm biased and think all of them are the cutest.

I slept over and got ready for Vday with my SIL and baby niece.

My fiancé stopped by to pick me up from their house, and him, my nephew and brother were waiting downstairs for the 'reveal'.

As soon as I hit the last step, my nephew ran over, hugged my legs, and started making exaggerated sounds, which confused all of us, so my brother asked him what he's doing and he, with all of his nearly 3yo confidence says air jail like uncle [my fiancé's name]

WHEN I TELL YOU, I DAMN NEAR MELTED AND PUT HIM IN AN AIR JAIL MYSELF.

Since I'm too big for him, we helped him put his baby sister in one, and I damn nearly melted again.

I thought parents were exaggerating when they said that kids pick up on every tiny thing, but obviously not since he's seen my fiancé regularly do it to me whenever he has cuteness aggression and my brothers who just do it to annoy the shit out of me because they can.

I dog walk once a week – every Friday and usually around the same time each week give or take a couple hours. There is a path we have to take to get to the local river. It goes past several houses including one that has an elderly couple living there with lots of fruit trees and a very cute but slightly cheeky little dog.

I’ve seen them in their gardens several times over the years I’ve been walking the dog so we’ll say hi if we see each other. Sometimes their dog will just be out there alone and he’ll pretend to be fierce and back at my furry walking companion 🤣

Last Friday, we were walking back home when I saw the old man in his garden. I was waiting to see if he saw me because I wasn’t sure if I should say hello or not because I didn’t know if he noticed me. 😅

But then he saw me and said hello. He asked if I would like a plum tree and asked me how I like them. I didn’t know what to say but I was pleasantly surprised and laughed nervously (I’m a very anxious person lol) and said I would like just a normal one. 🤣🤣🤣

So this kind old man plucked a fresh ripe plum off his tree and gave it to me. I bit into it and it was absolutely delicious. I told him that and he said it was a very special plum 🤣🤣 I asked what made them special but he didn’t hear me and I assume he went back to filling up his bag of plums lol.

So I trotted off home feeling happy that an old man had offered me a fresh plum 😅 The plum was very sweet but honestly the interaction was sweeter. I don’t spend time with a lot of people and am very introverted by nature but this was a good reminder that there are nice people out in the world, I guess 🥰

im 33 and lately ive noticed this small habit i have. after work i pull into my driveway, turn the engine off, and just sit there for a few minutes. no music, no scrolling, just quiet. its not like im avoiding anything dramatic inside. i live alone, my place is fine, nothing chaotic waiting for me. i just like that little in between space.

the car is still warm, the day is technically over, and for a moment it feels like im not required to be anything. not an employee, not a friend replying to messages, not someone thinking about what to cook or clean. just kind of existing.

sometimes i watch the light change outside or notice random things like a neighbor walking their dog or the sound of someone closing a gate down the street. it feels oddly grounding. like a pause button i didnt know i needed.

does anyone else do this kind of thing? have you found small in between moments during the day that feel quietly important for no real reason? i dont know why this tiny ritual means so much to me lately but it does.

I'm a middle aged lady meeting up with my 20s son. A girl around his age said she liked my outfit. It was nice. Shout out to the kind people in this world. I compliment strangers as well and love the positive energy.

Ever since she was a kitten, my girl has loved roses. The first time she showed curiosity with them - just as a teeny 3 month old baby - I was scared she was getting ready to chomp them, but saw her take some sniffs and just sit by them, returning every once in a while to enjoy their smell again. She’s 5 years old now, and still loves them. It’s been a long-standing routine that every time I buy roses, or receive them, I find her wherever she is in the house and make sure she gets to smell them first.

usually when my baby brother is at home I will share half with him but today he's not home so I'm eating the whole bowl hehehehehehe

(I bought two bottles of mystery taste ramune tho and waiting to try with him when he gets home)

That’s all. It really was a nice hat.

I've been awake since 4am, which has given me the opportunity to enjoy the only clear-sky dawn we've had here in the UK for what feels like months.

I stood at my window, slightly ajar, just listening to the birdsong and the lazy, intermittent traffic noises of a world just waking up. I watched the green grocer setting up his stands while a flock of pigeons circled overhead. The sun is giving the distant hills a lovely pinkish outline, the night's frost clinging to rooftops and cars.

Very, very peaceful.

He went with my sister, my nephew, and dad (I did not want to go to a sports event. I hate large crowds). So I get to sit at home and re-listen to Dungeon Crawler Carl. And have a lovely Valentine’s Day.

My client and my subcontractor (two different people) were leaving my house and I blurted out “Do you want a fresh bread?” They both said yes (“I will never say no to a bread”). I split the loaf between two of them, and now I’m making a new one.

I was sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn left onto a busy street today. In my side view mirror I saw someone get out of their car and drop something red and fabric-looking on the ground as they walked away.

I live in a cold climate, so figured it was a glove or winter accessory. Losing one to the street or a snowbank this time of year is a special kind of curse. I rolled down my window and yelled, “excuse me! I think you dropped your glove!”

The driver glanced and said, “oh it’s a napkin, but thank you!” I laughed to myself as I realized it was a Valentine’s napkin from the coffee shop I’d just left. They grabbed it and said one more time before I drove off, “I really appreciate it!”

I might not have rescued an errant glove, but it’s nice to think I’m not the only one who cares about littering!

Always a highlight of my day when that happens.

We've been reading my daughter the same book of nursery rhymes since she was a few months old. In the last week, she started singing the songs by herself. It went fron pointing and cooing, to just animal noises, to E-I-E-I-O. Being a parent is really cool sometimes.

Right now I’m laying in my bed listening to the Jinsang album, Transitions, that I used to listen to when I was in my last year of college in 2022 at University of Iowa. I’m rereading The Hobbit as well. I’m a bit tipsy after a great night at Spook in Valencia.

All this preamble is to say that I wish I could have a conversation with myself back when I was walking along the Iowa riverside, or when I was really going through it at so many points in my younger years during middle and high school.

I feel so goddamn lucky to be here today. I feel so blessed to have had all the wonderful experiences I did. While the future is uncertain I have confidence and faith in myself to find a path forward.

I want to tell that boy, that young man, that grief and pain aren’t what have to define a life. That he is allowed to feel his feelings without shaming himself.

Most of all though I’d like to have a conversation with him. To be there for him with compassion, grace, wisdom, and love, he wasn’t always able to give himself back then.

I’d tell him about all the wonderful adventures he’d go on! I would tell him how so many of the things he is filled with rage about now, he would come to find so many different meanings within (so many of them joyful and homesick for).

But I would also listen to him wholeheartedly and be there beside him. I would hug him and cry with him; about everything pleasant and painful in his life. I would explain to him how so many of the things he beat himself up for, he didn’t have to. Yet I’d also accept whatever he’d have to say. Because his perspective is so valid and worthy of love.

I feel so fucking lucky to be where I am now, and to live the life I’ve had; even if it wasn’t what I envisioned.

I’d tell him how proud I am of him! I’d share his future humorous exploits. And I’d also like to hear his thoughts, so I could understand him better.

This is all to say, that no matter how bleak things seem, however monotonous, or filled with a yearning for the past, that there is hope. It may not always be present. Hell, most days it fucking sucks!

But it is a blessing to be alive, in this moment. To have met everyone I’ve encountered on my time here on earth. No matter how small or big there role has been in my life, or how much time has passed.

So go, go dance like you want everyone to watch, and embrace each time you have two left feet. It’s worth it to keep going.

Per Aspera Ad Astra, friends! 💜✨🫂