We grew up thinking happiness, joy, delight, etc., was spontaneous. It arose naturally from circumstances. If you had to go looking for it, or even put in the effort to crack open a door for it, it lost legitimacy. It wasn’t real.
Thank goodness that’s incorrect.
We know now that seeking the little joys has a cumulative effect that makes us stronger and more resilient. I’ve written about this before here 1 and here 2 (plus, it’s mentioned pretty often in passing), but it feels like time to mention it again.
There’s a social push, in some areas, to do like they do in zombie shows and batten down with All The Weapons and prepare to destroy all comers, because they will surely want to destroy you.
If that’s your jam, go ahead.
Social data and history shows that kindly communities generally weather hard times better. Everyone has different skills, and that only works well when skills are pooled in a varied group.
It’s like making sandwiches…
If everyone has peanut butter, you don’t have sandwiches, you have an impending plumbing problem once everyone has eaten it. That’s like everyone having the same set of skills or preferences — it’s just not going to work out well under stress.
If someone has peanut butter, someone else has white bread, another has whole wheat bread, another has slices of chicken, somebody shows up with pickles and mayo, another has lettuce and tuna, and an absolute star shows up with jelly and gluten-free options, then everyone gets a delicious sandwich.
Pooling resources is fun! And that’s how you get through hard times. Use your strengths and work with those who can do what you can’t. *
Scared of the zombies? One skill-set an amazing number of people around you have relates to tactics, strategy, combat, and martial arts. The US has been actively involved, as a major force, in wars around the world at least since the late 1980s, with only brief breaks before then. We’ve got lots of veterans, and they can build things, wire things, program things, bandage things, and cook, too. You’d be surprised.
Wait… How did we get here? I meant to write about how finding little beauties, stopping to soak up little joys, noticing and remembering what you like so you can go back to it — these all trigger “brain juice” in the form of neurotransmitters that help us regulate our minds and get closer to peace, poise, and sanity.
All of which is super handy when you’re picking teams to survive the zombie apocalypse. 🤣✨️
* Hot tip:
Disabled people tend to be overlooked. That’s absurd. Nobody is better at thinking around problems than disabled people, and we tend to have incredibly useful skills… because “disabled” is a misnomer. Most of us are highly able — we just have specific barriers, which we know all about. We can seek complementary skills and specify our necessary adaptations.
Come get us. You’ll be glad you did. A tiny bit of upfront effort, and then your whole project grows wings.