{"id":2719,"date":"2023-04-27T18:55:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/?p=2719"},"modified":"2023-04-27T20:48:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T20:48:30","slug":"15-ways-to-embrace-joy-delight-this-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/blog\/15-ways-to-embrace-joy-delight-this-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Ways to Embrace Joy & Delight This Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"15<\/p>\n

\n\tWords: Christen Hammons<\/a><\/span>\n\t\n\tPhoto credit: Emoke Szabo; Bella Grace<\/em> Issue 31<\/a><\/a><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve never been one to make serious resolutions when a new year arrives and instead take two different approaches. I think of the things I will not be doing in the coming year (my \u201cunresolutions\u201d) and I think of what I want more of in my life. You know, those little things that when you do them, they bring you so much joy that you wonder why you don\u2019t do them more often.<\/p>\n

It was an uncharacteristically stormy, dark winter in Southern California \u2014 something I had never experienced in my lifetime of living here and one I just wanted to pass as quickly as possible. I had completely abandoned all those whimsical things I had vowed to add to my life in favor of just getting through what seemed like months of endless rain.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I missed the sunny days we seem to take for granted here as well as the ability to spend time outdoors whenever I wanted. I missed the delicate flowers that bloom every February in my neighbor\u2019s yard that couldn\u2019t survive the heavy downpours this winter. I missed weekly trips to the farmers market that\u2019s a few blocks from my house, an event that was cancelled more often than not.<\/p>\n

Many people think of spring as a time of rebirth, a time when we can put the dark, gloomy days of winter behind us and look forward to happier, brighter times. This year I decided to be one of these people and use the new season as a chance to start anew and recommit to adding more of the little things that bring me joy to my life.<\/p>\n

This spring, I\u2019m embracing joy and delight by \u2026<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \u00a0\u2026 moving any clothing with a bright color or cheerful pattern to the front of my closet.<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0\u2026 wearing sundresses with my cute new pair of white sneakers, much like I did when I was a little girl.<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0\u2026 eating all things lemon-flavored.<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0\u2026 sprinkling wildflowers seeds in our flower box and seeing what grows.<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0\u2026 opening up the windows as I start my day and closing them as I\u2019m going to bed.<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0\u2026 rearranging the backyard to set up a reading space to enjoy before summer comes and it\u2019s too warm to sit out there.<\/li>\n
  7. \u00a0\u2026 writing notes to strangers inside books before putting them in the Little Free Libraries around my neighborhood.<\/li>\n
  8. \u00a0\u2026 meeting friends for a scoop of ice cream or a sundae.<\/li>\n
  9. \u00a0\u2026 playing soft music while I prepare meals filled with my favorite springtime produce.<\/li>\n
  10. \u00a0\u2026 keeping my fingernails painted in pastel shades.<\/li>\n
  11. \u00a0\u2026 taking walks through my neighborhood to watch as the yards fill with blooms.<\/li>\n
  12. \u00a0\u2026 buying flower bouquets from the grocery store and scattering them around my tiny house.<\/li>\n
  13. \u00a0\u2026 enjoying my meals outside whenever I can.<\/li>\n
  14. \u00a0\u2026 sitting on the porch and blowing bubbles for my dogs to chase.<\/li>\n
  15. \u00a0\u2026 adding my \u201cfluffiest\u201d novels to the front of my \u201cto be read\u201d shelf.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    How will you be embracing joy and delight this spring?<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Christen Hammons is the editor-in-chief of\u00a0<\/em>Bella Grace\u00a0magazine. She lives in Orange County with her husband and their two rescue dogs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve never been one to make serious resolutions when a new year arrives and instead take two different approaches. I think of the things I will not be doing in the coming year (my \u201cunresolutions\u201d) and I think of what I want more of in my life. You know, those little things that when you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,28,101,9,71],"tags":[13,154,153],"class_list":["post-2719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-daily-gratitude","category-lovely-lists","category-ordinary-magic","category-seasons","tag-lists","tag-simple-joys","tag-spring"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}