Even when it is hard to find joy, whenever or however you can, it still matters to recognize that it is something worth treasuring.
To “treasure” something is to “keep it carefully.”
Allow yourself to consider the multiplicity of this:
How can you find things worth treasuring, to build upon them over time? How can you begin to collect things that are worth keeping? In a time where hidden algorithms determine so much of what we encounter and engage with, taking a moment to collect things worth keeping is a way to stay engaged with life, in ways big and small.
Maybe you’re the one who holds on to the journey in its memory form. You remember what was as so much more than just nostalgia, but as a layered record of unfolding and becoming.
Perhaps you’re the one who knows where laughter can be found. Even if it’s in the smallest moments, you know that laughter is its own form of release and working through the tension.
Maybe you’re the one who is grateful for the small things that get overlooked or underappreciated… being the one to elevate and highlight what is meaningful with quiet attention and honest enthusiasm.
Maybe you can be the one who continues to bring up the dreams… whether that be your own dreams, the family’s dreams, the community’s dreams. The things that seem to light up the room when someone talks about them, even before they come into fruition.
There’s nothing wrong with longing for big moments of joy. And at the same time, you are free to allow yourself to seek out moments of a more subtle or overlooked significance. Because sometimes “joy” looks like this: the possibility that treasured things can still be found here and they can matter, even if they are small. And even when those treasured things are small, they are still worth pursuing… and not only for ourselves, but for others, too.
– Morgan Harper Nichols
