WIWD Archive: The Joyful Jellyfish
We can get so caught up in being sensible and serious 'grown-ups', with serious jobs, reading serious things, doing serious stuff, that we can sometimes forget the fun.
This post was first published in March 2023.
Sometimes life can feel heavy and serious. We have to deal with heavy and serious things. As we move through our lives, grief and loss and pain come to us all. Our responsibilities and commitments, the everyday drudgery of life can weigh on our hearts.
But no matter how heavy the years can feel, small things can still bring joy and make us smile. I think we lose something when we forget to have fun and be joyful. I don’t want to forget.
This little jellyfish helps me to remember the joy and fun when things feel a bit on the heavy side.
On the light side
I talk a lot about how drawing lights my soul and makes my heart sing, and I hope that my drawings brighten your day and make you smile too, but there are many more things that light my days. Here are just a few.
Fun at work
9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, I work as a Finance Manager. [At the time of writing in 2023] it is Year End, a daunting time for the most hardened of accountants. I am frazzled after two weeks of hard grind, buried alive in my inbox, drowning in debits and credits, balance sheets and income and expenditure accounts. I know that doesn’t sound like fun, but there is fun to be had in amongst all the counting of beans.
In a previous job with the NHS, Covid arrived and we were thrown into remote working and the world of Zoom and Teams. It was a tough time but we still managed to have plenty of fun with the aid of sock puppets, silly rhymes and gifs. (Also playing silly pranks like switching the keys round on the keyboards in the office, randomly muting each other in the middle of meetings, turning on the automatic captions and laughing at the weird and wonderful things the voice recognition came up with.)
Don’t worry, be happy
I get lots of joy from listening to music. I’ve got upbeat playlists and more calming ones. On my Happy play list, you’ll find ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ by Bobby McFerrin, ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers, ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams and ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ by Justin Timberlake.
Smiles and giggles
Serious science stuff tells us that if we smile, it can make us feel happier. When we see others smiling and laughing, it can evoke the same reactions in us, even when we don’t know what they’re smiling about. There is nothing in this world (to me) that is more infectious than my 9 year old son giggling. If you need to see a smile today and haven’t seen one yet - here’s one of my favourites 😁.
Doggy zoomies
I love my dogs, they make me smile for lots of reasons. Talking them out for walks down the lane and through the woods lifts my soul. When they get the zoomies, its so much fun to watch. You know - when they tuck in their tails and run round and round and you can just tell that they are having the time of their life.
And so much more
There are so many things in life that bring me joy; cuddles with my children on the sofa in front of the TV, going to the cinema and eating popcorn and pick-n-mix, playing silly games, mucking about and generally sillyness - its still allowed, even at (almost) 45. I want to look back on a life that was full of joy every day, not one that was filled with drudgery and serious grown-upness!
So if you’re struggling to find the fun today, I hope my joyful jellyfish will lift your spirits and help you remember the things that bring you joy.
Bye for now,
If you’ve enjoyed reading, send some hearts (click the ❤️), comment 💬 or restack🔁 on Substack or share on social media.
When you subscribe, you’ll get a beautiful bundle of illustration assets in my Welcome Letter or upgrade to access my every growing gallery brimming with gorgeous illustrations to create beautiful things for your home, your life and online spaces. I’ve added my little joyful jellyfish to the gallery and the While I Was Drawing subscriber chat today. I hope she brightens your day and makes you smile.
It doesn’t cost a thing to smile and it’s so healthy! Perhaps we need an app? Like the steps app only for smiling, just to make sure we are smiling enough to stay well, 🙂🙃I so agree about children giggling Emily, nothing in this world is more infectious than that sweet sound… A gorgeous post which made me smile even more! ♥️xx
I am grateful that my dog makes me laugh every day, he is the light of my life!