Finding Relief from Sadness: My Favorite Things

June 25, 2009

When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Who can forget these wonderful words sung by Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music? I have to say, I never will. Not that I have any interest in raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens. And I seriously could not care less about bright copper kettles, warm woolen mittens, or brown paper packages tied up with strings. But I am interested in finding relief from sadness, so I have my OWN list of favorite things that helps me remember not to feel so bad.

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Butterflies that pose for a picture I’m taking;
their curled up tongues when they’re all finished eating;

Beautiful jellies with their killer stings;
these are a few of my favorite things.

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It sounds weird, I know. But I realized this weekend, when I was at the Tennessee Aquarium (and butterfly garden), that I really love these two things. Despite the fact that I hate most bugs, I truly and deeply adore butterflies. They are so insanely beautiful, delicate, and graceful… even though they started out as those icky, crawly, nasty caterpillars. How is that even possible? Their metamorphosis fills me with hope that I can become anything I want to be. Plus, they fly!

And jellyfish… I can’t begin to explain how much I love jellyfish. Again, beautiful, delicate and graceful. Maybe they don’t fly, but it kind of looks like they do because they move around so smoothly and effortlessly in the water. What I like about these guys is that everything is fine as long as you don’t mess with them… just let them be. But if you do try to mess with them, to screw up their world, they will forevermore sting the heck out of you. There’s something about that not-quite-defenseless, yet delicate, savage beauty that I find intoxicating.

Anyway, watching either of these for any length of time is enough to make me forget all my troubles… at least temporarily. So I was thinking that maybe YOU have some favorite things you can think about when you’re not feeling so great. It might not be a bad idea to make a list of them, as many as you can think of. Then, when you are feeling sad, you simply need to remember them.

If Julie Andrews says it works, I’m inclined to believe her!

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Posted in beauty, happiness, simplicity