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I found a positive side to being busy with appartment hunting and moving and and being frustrated with having less time to dedicate to the Nife: coming up with new, shorter post ideas to write and plan over the week-end. Creativity blossoms from limitations, is it? Today, an idea sprouted during a pre-move item editing: seven things that bring me joy.
1. Golden necklace from 7bis
My company organized a sort of Christmas gift market last December, inviting mostly small creators with a vast array of choice, from family-friendly board games to organic tea. Among them, this creator, 7bis, offering simple and delicate jewelry items. This particular necklace caught my eye, self gift. My golden set of jewelry is still very small, as I used to hate it when I was younger (maybe we come to appreciate yellow gold when we age?), so I'm slowly building a small capsule with creator items.
2. A tiny cactus
Just because. They were selling some of these in the flower shop I get my weekly bunch at, they've been poking at me for weeks. One day, I gave in and bought two. I'm so happy about this tiny cactus, it makes me smile every time I see it.
3. (Another) hand made tea cup
I found this one in Alsace during the Christmas break. We were strolling through the in-laws' town centre slowly, enjoying mulled wine and street decorations when we stumbled upon the little atelier of a craftsman. I had to leave with a teacup. So I did.
4. "Wild Bluebell" by Jo Malone
I believe those of you who follow me got several hints of this: I am quite smitten by the brand Jo Malone when it comes to perfume, ever since I discovered their Dark Amber and Ginger Lily scent back last Autumn. They invited me to visit their store for my birthday, and I used the opportunity to get advice on a more spring-friendly scent. I came out with Wild Bluebell, a light and airy perfume perfect for the season. Plus, I just finished the season 2 of Broadchurch, which involves Bluebells at some point, took it as a sign (human brains...).
5. A mineral egg on mineral stones in a jade cup on a chalk plate
This has been decorating my appartment for quite a while now. The chalk plate comes from a free set of verrines plus plates I got from a clothing shop ages ago, I brought the jade cup back from Thailand, and the minerals come from my childhood collection. I just like this little natural construction.
6. Rediscovered and cherished earrings
I bought these earrings in Japan in 2006. I remember where, I remember why. It was the time when I was refining my feminine-looking armor style of "I'm an adult and I want to be taken seriously". They ended up in storage along with all my other long earrings in spring 2011, and came to Paris last Autumn when le fiancé moved out of the appartment I'd been living in for 12 years before I moved to Paris. Which means sorting an entire cellar of stuff. I found these earrings and decided to give another try at longer earrings with my current style. Worked out perfectly, these are among my highest earring rotation now.
7. The perfect 2015 planner
I remember being disappointed, back in December, when I went to the stationary corner of the BHV store to find a planner. I thought they'd have tons of choices, but in the end, it was pretty conventional. I have to come to terms with the fact that there is nothing like the japanese Loft shop's stationary floor in France. I was looking at a small and compact planner after having used Moleskine for so long, just because they don't fit in my smallest "walk in the city" bag and it is unpractical. After roaming around for what must have been 45 minutes, I found this one from paperblanks. At first, I thought it would be too thick. But it isn't, it's perfect. It has this square month-per-page overview only japanese planners usually have, plus a one week on two pages detailed section. And these peacock like colours... Gives me joy every time I use it!
That's it for this short joyful things post. I'm not looking to push you to consumption with this, just trying to make a point that, even with a simple life, you can have a selected set of items in your life that make you happy, and that's OK. Also, this is an exercise of expressing gratitude over what I own instead of crafting wishlists. I hope you like it!
I read your disclaimer towards the end. And i feel that way too, when i post something. We are labeled as the generation that "shamelessly shows our things on social media" for self promotion of sorts. It baffles my mother on why i share details of a shirt online. I agree with her sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit in the end. I am in grad school. I am chained to a desk in my lab most of the time. I dont make lots of experiences, and hence lovingly look at my beautifully made oxfords. And admire them from time to time.
"Also, this is an exercise of expressing gratitude over what I own instead of crafting wishlists. " Amen to that thought.
It's true that it can be seen as very narcissistic to post that kind of things online. This is a question I often ask myself as a blogger, which is a quite narcissistic activity, talking about one's life to readers like that. But I think it all depends on the intention behind it - if it is a sort of gratitude journal, or a way to inspire other people by sharing my own humble journey, I think it is worth pursuing. But this is a line I'm always wary of, and I agree everyone could think about it when sharing things on social media too. But I also agree there is nothing wrong with enjoying what we have and be grateful for having them.
DeleteNot sure if they have planners, but have you tried looking at Marie Papier? They have lots of beautiful things.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this before, but after Googling it, it seems they went out of business. There is no shortage of cute stationey brands out there though :)
DeleteI think it's great that you devote this little post to really noticing things that are in your everyday life. We all have (lots of) stuff anyway, why not treat it with gratitude? I recently had my perspective shift because of the omnipresent book by Mari Kondo. I think she exaggerates a little bit when she talks about coming home and changing clothes and emptying her purse and thanking every item for having done a great job that day ... But to show just a little bit of that kind of respect for our things might be an admirable aspiration.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I have been inspired by Marie Kondo on this one too. I didn't read her book (I've stopped buying or borrowing books since March for the move, and will resume after I'm comfortably installed - and have paid for all the move fees) but I watched a Google talk by her on the very day I was starting to edit my stuff in preparation for the move. Her talk is much less detailed than the book I assume, but she talks about surrounding ourselves with objects that spark joy, and this gave me the idea to do such a post about items that spark joy these days. Also a way to get more positive about stuff, as I admit I feel a bit overwhelmed lately, with all the move preparations (from two homes to one, so, big work...)
DeleteThat little cactus is lovely. Reminds me of the holidays my family spent in Arizona when I was a child.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying about not intending to push consumption. There is definitely a balance to achieve between making thoughtful purchases, and blindly spending money on anything and everything. In my own life, I'm trying to keep the scales tipped toward thoughtfulness, so I appreciate your disclaimer.
It is indeed difficult sometimes, to find the balance between thoughtful, and joyful, consumption, but knowing the limit with mindless shopping or "retail therapy" of sorts. Where is the line between wanting to make life a bit more joyful with, say, a nice little notebook for grocery lists, and go compensate a bad day by buying stuff? Over time, I've come to believe that the key lies in mindfulness, not only of the objects and brands themselves, but of how we feel when we are about to make a purchase; how we currently stand in our life in general, what this particular item purchase is motivated by etc. The other reason why I thought this little exercise might be interesting is that I noticed, when I cultivate gratitude towards what I own, even the trivial little items like those, it makes me want fewer new things...
Delete#thingsarrangedneatly
ReplyDeleteI love this post idea--you're giving me ideas for my blog. :) Is it ok if I modify the concept somewhat?
Haha I so enjoyed preparing the items for the picture :) You can totally steal and rearrange the post idea however you wish, I don't believe I actually invented anything here ;)
DeleteI love this post! I love little things that have a special meaning to me and for some reason I love finding out what little objects do other people find lovely. I think I love each one of your 'joyful things', but I like the planner the best - I'm such a stationary freak and this one is just so cute!
ReplyDeleteHaha so do I! I love reading such posts from other bloggers, and I love looking at the shelves and all when invited to someone's home. I must admit I gasped when I found this planner. Perfect for a stationery freak indeed ;)
DeleteI've been reading your blog for a while, hi! :) I like this post concept a lot more than the "minimalist haul" (listing things you didn’t buy) I've seen elsewhere. Taking a little joy in simple things is awesome. Last weekend I had time to clean, condition and waterproof all my shoes and I felt the same way. It's actually just 4 pairs that I own and I love all of them so much. Haha it sounds silly but it's true.
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