012. Take Your Pleasure Seriously.

Pay attention to the things that move you and the people that move you.

12/100: What is joy to you? How do you cultivate it?

Pleasure is not one of the spoils of capatalism. It is what our bodies, our human systems, are structured for; it is the aliveness and awakening, the gratitude and humility, the joy and celebration of being miraculous. —adrienne marie brown

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Joy, to me, is an act of surrender, the tender habit of attention, an essential, life-saving practice of gratitude and delight. I pay close attention to the things that move me and the people that move me. I spend time with those people, those things.

Here’s a week’s worth of small joys in the form of tastes, smells, humans, things, and thoughts that light up my life.

• The first sip of something bubbly

• Impromptu toasts

• Sexy stems on glassware

• My husband’s hands, laugh, writing, thoughts

• New book smell

• Palm fronds

• Highlighters

• Lime-washed walls

• G2 colored pens

• Mangoes!

• Cameras!

• Wide lenses!

• Editing personal projects

• Sour candy

• Soup

• Piping hot tea/coffee

• Frank Ocean

• Donny Hathaway

• Chunky sweaters

• Teaching

• Slices of light

• Pops of red

• Singing with strangers/friends

• Random acts of kindness

• Random acts of flyness

• Fresh snow

• Warm sand

• Ice cold beer

• Caiparhinas

• Handwritten anything

• Beautiful stationary

• Disco balls

• My mom’s egg rolls

• Watching people I love pursue their dreams

• My Oum Thy’s smile

• My Bong Bunna

• Seeing my cousins love eachother

• Sitting at the bar for a meal

• When my dad looks over his glasses at a WhatsApp message or crazy video, and full-belly laughs

• When my aunts yell, “Nne!”

• The clickity clack of a keyboard

• Morning pages

• Film photography

• Color-coding things

• Leafy rooftops

• Gisting with girlfriends

• Being loud with my lil’ brothers

• Impromptu adventures

• Long walks

• Lifting heavy

• Pickleball (just played today…I get it now)

• Any baked goods with vanilla bean

• Doodling

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12/100: What is joy to you? How do you cultivate it?

I can’t wait to read what delights you.

Happy first day of Black History Month, and thank you for watching, reading, and listening. As always, I’m looking forward to reading your answers.