A Daily Dose of Positivity
An exercise in practicing playfulness and joy
I have a couple of colleagues who are in the thick of their doctoral studies right now. I remember that season so well, even though it is nearly a decade ago now that I defended my dissertation. It’s a very…full…season of life. Checking in with each of them this past week reminded me of a practice I did while in grad school to help me keep perspective: I kept a gratitude journal. Every day I took a few minutes to jot down three things I was grateful for or that brought me joy in that day. It was a sort of spiritual discipline that helped keep me grounded even when I was feeling a little overwhelmed.
Sometime in the intervening years I let go of that practice. It’s not that I don’t still feel grateful for things—I certainly do! But, for whatever reason, I didn’t feel the need to document my gratitude as diligently as I had while managing that very busy season of my life. Maybe that was part of it? I was so busy, I felt like I had to make time to write down things that sparked joy for me?
As I was thinking about this, my mind wandered to the fact that I have a reputation for positivity…which was part of the idea for this newsletter, after all. My hope is that this newsletter is an opportunity for YOU to to also practice a little positivity in your life too. But maybe you need a little nudge?
Okay, friends. Here’s a list of 39 ideas to practice a little joy, delight, and silliness. I hope these give you a little spark of playfulness!
Get in the habit of high-fiving yourself in the mirror. (Seriously. Do it.)
Take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the grass for at least 60 seconds.
Sing in the shower—belt out that one-hit wonder you still know all the words to.
Try a new fruit at the grocery store that you’ve never tasted—dragonfruit? Starfruit? Pomelo? Guava?
Send a voice message to a friend just to say you appreciate them.
Try skipping instead of walking.
Wear your favorite outfit, even if you're not going anywhere special.
Play an album you haven’t listened to in at least a year.
Get some bubbles—yes, with a wand—and head outside for a few minutes of magic. Watch them float and pop. Inhale. Exhale.
Write a silly haiku about your day. Hang it on the fridge with pride.
Eat breakfast outside, even if it’s just a granola bar on the porch.
Compliment someone working at Walmart, or the grocery store, or the fast food drive-thru—it costs you nothing, and just might make their day.
Draw a heart on your hand with a marker as a tiny reminder that you matter.
Rewatch a childhood favorite show or cartoon.
Give someone a ridiculously cheerful greeting—like, “Top o’ the morning to ya, sunshine!”
Leave a note of encouragement in a library book.
Make your bed with extra care to get it just so—and then belly flop onto it.
Get whipped cream on that drink today.
Look up at the clouds for five minutes. What shapes do you see?
Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand and giggle at how weird it feels.
Make up a little jingle about what you're doing: “I’m vacuuming like a boss, oh yeah!”
Hum the theme song of a TV show you loved as a kid.
Smell all the spices in your cupboard and find your favorite.
Wave at your reflection and say, “You’re doing great, friend.” Finger guns and a wink as you walk away.
Wear two different socks on purpose and feel like a rebel.
Take the long way home and notice three things you've never seen before.
Make a tiny paper airplane and try to fly it across the room.
Document a place you know really well (your kitchen? your backyard?) by taking at least 20 photos of it. Create a travelogue slide deck and send it to a friend.
Get a colorful pen and write a note to a friend. Put a stamp on it and send via snail mail.
Sit outside with your eyes closed and just listen for five minutes.
Make a wish on a dandelion, especially if you're a sensible grown-up.
Say thank you out loud to something random: “Thank you, coffee mug. You’re doing great.”
Take a picture of something beautiful and text it to someone who’d appreciate it.
Chew bubble gum and blow the biggest bubble you can.
Make art by coloring with crayons, and enjoy the smell and feeling of scribbling.
Open the closet, pick up a towel and take a deep sniff like you’re in a commercial for fabric softener.
Whistle while you work—Snow White wasn’t wrong!
Give your pet a goofy voice and narrate their thoughts.
Write a note to your future self that starts with: “Don’t forget how good this felt...”
I’m not “shoulding” on you to get after any of these…but what would it look like if you picked one of them to try out in your life each day for the next 39 days? How might that influence your capacity to play?
Dave’s Faves
Here are three things I’m absolutely loving right now that I hope you might love too…
Dave’s Fave #1: Colleagues who write awesome things
My friend and colleague, Erik Ringsby, recently had a two-part piece on In All Things. Erik joined our department a couple years ago after a long career as a special education teacher and instructional coach, and he is absolutely brilliant. He cares deeply for students, a huge part of his own teaching practice is equipping future teachers with both the imagination and skills to care deeply for their own students. In this two-part article, he explains an approach for collective support, and then gives practical, playful examples of how to support ALL students. I recommend them both to you!
Dave’s Fave #2: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
If you follow my “professional” Instagram, you’ll know that give reviews of the things I’m reading there. I recently read one of Michael Crichton’s posthumously-published books, Dragon Teeth. It is one of the most exciting and engrossing novel’s I’ve read recently! Here was my review, as shared on Instagram:
My latest read: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton. I’ve loved Crichton’s work ever since reading Jurassic Park as a high schooler. This book is not the speculative, near-future science fiction that Crichton is well known for. Rather, this book is a historical adventure set in the American West in the late 1800s. The story follows William Johnson, a privileged but naive Yale student who is drawn into the “Bone Wars”—a real-life, period of fossil discovery and intense scientific competition between two paleontologists. What begins as a bet for Johnson soon turns into a dangerous journey through the untamed frontier on a fossil hunt, complete with navigating a forbidding natural landscape, avoiding hostile Native tribes to varying degrees of success, and shootouts with actual bandits. It is a thrilling story that feels both over-the-top…and totally believable at the same time. I actually stayed up late to finish the book, because I had to know how it ended! Two-thumbs way up from Dr. Dave for this one!
Dave’s Fave #3:
I’ve been writing a lot lately, and I often have music playing in the background while I do this. I like music without lyrics for this (so I don’t get distracted and start singing along.) One of my favorite artists for an instrumental soundtrack is Adam Young, who you might better know as Owl City. He did a project a decade or so ago in which he created soundtracks for historical events. They are all instrumental, and each one takes on a different feeling, with evocative titles that help get you into the mood of the story that the soundtrack is telling. Here’s an example: his album The Ascent of Everest, which would be the soundtrack for Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay climbing Mount Everest in 1953. He’s got a dozen of these albums, and each one is a little different, but all of them are wonderful. Check ‘em out!
The Last Word!
If you’re feeling busy, burdened, or overwhelmed, I feel you, friend. I hope and pray that this post was an encouragement to catch your breath, rest, and play a bit.
Psalm 46:10a says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (This is a favorite psalm of mine; check out the whole thing to get this verse in context.) I can’t remember who passed this wisdom on to me, but when I need a moment to catch my breath, here’s an exercise to repeat, based on this verse. After each phrase, pause for a moment, take a slow, deep breath in, and exhale slowly. Recite this to yourself as an encouragement to remember this word from the Lord:
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Grace and peace to you all, friends.
