Open-hearted joys 開開心心 № 24

Capturing the tiny details of my everyday mundane and the small moments that weave poetry to my days.

Sundaze Book Café is the home of everyday magic, joyful living and conversations likely to be had over a hot drink with a friend in your favourite café, capturing the syrup-slow feel and glow of a Sunday. I’m Michelle, and I’ll be your host today.

Happy Friday, my loves!

I feel as though I blinked and completely missed this week. The days are racing by and I’m sure it’s because the good weather here in my slice of England has fuelled me to do more than ‘be a pensive Pisces’ indoors. Instead, I’m lapping up the sunshine like a cat particularly drawn to a good sunspot. The good news? I’m hitting my 10,000 steps. The bad? I’m very behind on house jobs and my cosy hobbies. But it’s all about the balance, isn't it? Outdoors time has been perfect fodder for inspiring great writing sprints, and I feel particularly keen to soak up England’s spring before our trip in just under two weeks’ time! From here on out, it’ll be holiday prep and all of that good stuff.

There’s a lot to be said for appreciating the smaller, not necessarily finer, details of the everyday mundane. Here’s to another list of petite, open-hearted joys, the moments that’ve brought and woven poetry to my days, this week.

一. Sunshine-soaked evenings. The longer, lighter evenings certainly make light work of getting those 10,000 steps in, don’t they? I always find myself far more willing and excited, even, to head outdoors after work in these mid-spring weeks. So much so, that I’ve not yet started watching the final season of You yet! Perhaps tonight…

二. A spell of days out over in London. Since my last ‘Open-hearted joys’ post, I’ve ended up London three times! While exhausting in these post-pandemic times, it felt so good to have a smidgen of my old life back. I couldn’t do it now, but I used to so love my weekly rhythm in the city: cramped commutes with good books, the rigamarole of office life, lunch breaks with friends that felt like therapy but better, after-work jaunts to new restaurant openings… I’ve a newfound appreciation for how it was, as well as how it is.

三. Reaching the decorating and scenting stage of our house! It’s been fun to custom-blend candles for our place – I make and sell vegan, cruelty-free crackling candles! – and to have a few people over to see it too. Although, note to self, we desperately need to buy some good mugs for guests.

四. The first week in my Traveler’s Notebook! I’m absolutely loving the highly portable format and streamlining my organisation in it. Perfect for this stage in my life.

五. Cosy after-work conversation while prepping a from-scratch dinner. There’s something so quietly magical about a chat over chopping vegetables and a sizzling pan that spills out through the kitchen door and into the garden.

六. A spontaneous mid-week dinner date with

Kristabel Plummer

. Since I was in town for work, it was nice to grab an early dinner at Tamil’s before zipping off home. My colleagues and I had just been talking about their Kings Cross launch last week, so it felt like fate to get to eat there this week!

七. Dining al fresco with my colleagues on campus. Of course we’d all much rather be sunning ourselves while working from home, but it’s been genuinely lovely to find a picnic bench and set up camp for lunch. These are the small joys amidst the mundane.

八. My first run in nearly three months! Loved it.

九. Seeing new leaves unfurling on my money plant and darling lemon tree.

十. Driving with the windows down and Fearless by Taylor Swift playing. It isn’t yet air-conditioning weather and I’m happy about it.

Share a joy from your week in the comments, and I’ll see you again next Friday.