Finding Glimmers On An Ordinary Monday
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
A love letter for when you need a seed of hope
Hello dear one,
I hope that this love letter finds you in a moment when you needed a seed of hope and that a glimmer of possibility can be passed on from my heart to yours.
This year has dished out all sorts of challenges for me personally, some normal life stuff and some big, hard stuff that I've had to be brave in facing. You never know when life is going to show up and throw out a 'surprise' that knocks the breath out of you and leaves you feeling like you don't know which way is up or down.
The one thing I know for sure is that we are never given more than what we are able to manage and cope with. That somehow, as life throws us these unimaginable obstacles that rock us to our core, we learn to grow our capacity and build resilience through each experience. We somehow manage to rise stronger each time, with a greater depth of knowledge about ourselves, our relationships and the world around us. If this feels impossible or untrue for you, that is probably a sign that you are needing some external support in navigating what you're currently experiencing.
a little invitation from me ~
I want to invite you to start to notice the glimmers around you. The little shimmers of magic in the every day. What could this look like? It might look like taking an extra moment to pause when you experience something that you enjoy, something which makes you experience your senses and be present, even just for a moment. Maybe it's holding your cup of coffee and feeling the warmth in your hands, smelling it and appreciating it before taking your first sip. It's indulging in the simple pleasures that life has to offer by using your senses. It's having the intention of noticing and appreciating the things you may usually take for granted.
This month's theme: finding glimmers amongst the ordinary
Experiencing an extraordinary life begins with creating an extraordinary life. We must first imagine how we want to feel and start with the embodiment of this.
The thing is, we are all guilty of walking past many moments in the day that most of us walk past without a second thought. These moments can go by unnoticed or alternatively, we have the opportunity to pause and hold the space for our sensory experience to be felt in our bodies and hearts.
The steam rising off your morning coffee. The golden light and shadows, filtering in through the window on a wintery afternoon. A message from a friend that makes you laugh out loud, alone, in your kitchen. Your child's hand finding yours without either of you thinking about it - the ease and comfort this immediately brings to your nervous system.
These moments are not small and when we start to bring our attention to these moments, they start to grow. We notice them more, feel them more deeply and have a much greater sense of overall life satisfaction.
Five ways to start noticing the glimmers in your life and feeling happier today ~
1. Keep a glimmer gallery on your phone. Instead of writing what you're grateful for, try documenting what you noticed — the small, sensory, easily-missed moments. The specific slant of light. The taste of the first sip of tea. This supports your brain to appreciate presence. Look back at this gallery instead of doom scrolling when you feel bored.
2. Name it while it's happening. When you feel that flicker of ease, pause and silently say, this is a glimmer. Naming it in the moment is what actually helps rewire the nervous system, because you're pairing the felt sense with the language in real time.
3. Let your body join in. A hand on your heart. A slow exhale. A small smile you let yourself feel, even if no one's watching. Glimmers land deeper when you let your body register them, not just your mind.
4. Go looking on purpose. Set a gentle intention each morning: today, I'll notice three glimmers. Simply invite your attention to land somewhere good, instead of leaving it to wander toward worry by default.
5. Share them. Set a gentle intention each morning: today, I'll notice three glimmers. Simply invite your attention to land somewhere good, instead of leaving it to wander toward worry by default.
When you focus on the good, the good gets better. With consistency, overtime it shifts our nervous system into safety and our mindset into abundance.
There's a principle in neuroscience called attentional bias. This is the idea that what we repeatedly pay attention to becomes easier for our brain to notice in the future. Your brain is, quite literally, building a filter based on what you've trained it to look for.
If you've spent years scanning for what's wrong (what could go wrong, what is going wrong, what almost went wrong), your brain has become remarkably efficient at finding exactly that. Not because your life is short on good things, but because you haven't yet built the same efficient pathway for finding those.
Noticing the glimmers that already exist in your day to day life is about giving your nervous system permission to notice the fulness of your life.
When you focus on the good, the good doesn't just feel better. It becomes more visible. More available. More woven into how you experience your ordinary Tuesday.
If this season where it feels hard to even imagine where to start or how to begin accessing this way of thinking. If you're feeling stuck in fight, flight, freeze or fawn, then perhaps it's time to reach out for more support. Therapy is not about having the answers; it's about finding the courage to keep asking the questions.
May you move forward with a sense of hope. With something to focus on to help you create more hope and abundance from today, this moment, going forward.
May you set an intention to begin to pause and notice all the good that already exists in your life.
With love,
Annie
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