the slow side of happy

I turned 40 this year and I recently jumped on the bandwagon of friends writing bucket lists of 50 things they want to do before they turn 50. Some items were easy to come up with, like travel destinations or to finally conquer my spaghetti arms and master the “Crow” pose in yoga. But halfway through, I found myself struggling for inspiration. Turns out, I’m quite dull. I don’t want to run a marathon, sky dive, or learn an instrument.

This exercise forced me to sit and think about what truly makes me happy. Not the joyous, exhilarated, best-day-of-my-life kind of happy, but the content, slow side of happy.

I realised that my happiness often comes from engaging in creative tasks that are offline and tactile. It could be cooking or doing a puzzle, but most often, it’s crafty activities that bring me real joy. Thanks to parenting books (yawn), I’ve come across the term “Intrinsic Motivation,” which sums it up perfectly. I like doing things where I enjoy the process almost as much as the final result.

So, I’ve filled my bucket list with these types of goals. I want to learn how to mosaic, restore a piece of furniture, and learn how to tile. Yes, I am most definitely in my 40s, but I’m okay with that.

Which brings me to my latest diversion: making pressed foliage…things. It’s a slow process. I ransack the garden, put petals and leaves between sheets of paper, and leave them in a big, heavy book for weeks (or months). Then, I haphazardly glue them down in some sort of shape.

The process of slowly gluing each petal or frond onto the page is like assembling a giant puzzle where any piece could go anywhere and, in the moment, feels like meditation.

Photos taken on my phone so they’re a bit rubbish.