Things I Love Thursday

You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.
— Joseph Campbell

One of my very best friends sent me an email with this in the subject title last week and I’ve been reflecting on it since then. These last few months have found me more frustrated than usual. Instead of berating myself for the gap between what I wanted to accomplish by now and the stark reality, I’ve spent this past week thinking about what I have in my real, unimagined, living life. It’s not going the way I planned, but it’s the one I’ve got — and there are so many little things to love and give thanks for:

♥ The most beautiful wedding ceremony I attended this past weekend. There was so much love and happiness, just remembering it gives me more joy than I can express.

♥ Buffets. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a full-scale buffet complete with appetizers, main courses and the most splendid spread of desserts I’ve yet seen. Mm, chocolate mousse and tarts…

♥ Basking in sunshine. I’ve been spending as much time as possible out-of-doors while the sun is here and the skies are clear. How I wish we had had more of this earlier!

♥ Oliver Jeffers’s guide on how to draw penguins.

♥ Meeting up with friends I haven’t been able to see in a few months, however briefly.

♥ Packages in the mail! Surprises are the best, but long-awaited books in my letterbox are almost as good.

♥ My favourite English in-love love song is definitely Ronan Keating’s cover of ‘When You Say Nothing At All’.

♥ I really like this picture (though I’ve no clue where it’s from) for perhaps obvious reasons: