one practice to help you feel so much more joy

I feel like if I was on a Hogwarts Quidditch team, I would be a seeker.
 
But not so much in the traditional sense, I actually don't have any idea how I'd fair trying to catch those elusive golden snitches. I am good at seeking though. 
My brain naturally seeks out the things that cause hard emotions, anticipates negative possibilities, and focuses on the aspects of life that feel hard exceptionally well.  Feel familiar to you too?
 
It didn’t take me living very long to realize I didn’t want to live that way, but how do you change your nature? It's easy to feel like some things you're just stuck with.
 
In fact, for a long time, I felt like everyone else was just more naturally optimistic and hopeful than me. But the more I’ve studied and the more I’ve connected with others and heard their stories , the more I realized this focus is actually a common struggle for most of us.  
 
This quote opened up the way I look at my natural reactions;
 
Why do we insist on dress-rehearsing tragedy in moments of deep joy? Because joy is the most vulnerable emotion we feel…When we feel joy, it is a place of incredible vulnerability—it’s beauty and fragility and deep gratitude and impermanence all wrapped up in.
 
 - Brené Brown
 
We want to protect our joy so much that we self-sabotage ourselves right out of happy moments and instead focus on the hard of our current moment, the hard of the past or the possible hard of the future.  And it’s so frustrating, isn’t it? 

– 
 
The good news is that you can change the way you think, and learn to lean into joy and know life is fragile and change is always possible at the same time.  
 
Joy-filled and hopeful living doesn’t have to be something you’re born with, in fact most of us aren’t, but they are very learnable skills
 
One of the easiest ways to develop this skill is to practice noticing and being present for the good. 
 
This is how my seek light, share light journaling practice came to be.  
 
I was in the throes of mothering toddlers and babies (I had my five in just over five years), I was overwhelmed by how difficult that stage of life was. All you mothers know, there is so much you don’t have control over with babies and toddlers and what I thought was just my lack of ability as a mom then, I understand now was my nervous system being completely dysregulated as a result of the stress and how I was coping with it.
All I really knew then was that I needed something simple and sustainable to try to change my focus and attention.  
 
If you’re ready to stop being fixated on the hard your experiencing now, paralyzed by fear, or focused on the hard that may or may not come in the future too — start seeking and sharing light in your own Seek Light, Share Light journal this year.
 
With the Seek Light, Share Light journal you begin by writing down a handful of things that you see brought light into your day, they can be as simple as a hug the color of a sunset or as substantial as a friend being a good listener on a particularly hard day. 
 
Some days seeking light feels extra hard but little by little your mind learns how to find and hold the good along with the hard you might be experiencing.  So that even on your hardest days your brain will naturally seek out the light too. 
 
This journaling practice will help you notice and then be in that emotionally vulnerable state of being present for the joy in your life. 
 
With time, it changes the way your mind naturally reacts to and processes your life experiences. 
 
In life you will experience hard things, but don’t you want to experience joy too? I did, and I still do. This simple journal practice helps me experience and recognize so much more good in my life, it can for you too. 
 
You can experience happiness and abundance more than ever before, even when life surprises you in ways you wouldn’t have picked.
 
I can’t do your inner work for you, no one can, but I can support you in that inner work, with practices, art, and a home designed to support your happiest, healthiest life — you will feel the most capable of living a full, authentic life
 
Remember change is possible, but not always quick or easy, seek out the progress and changes you're making. You are capable of so much, I'm cheering you on and working right along with you. 
Here are some free phone wallpapers of my art along with some great quotes to encourage you as you seek out the abundant parts of your life this year.