Choosing Joy on International Day of Happiness 2018

Good evening lovely people!

Today is International Day of Happiness. If there was ever a day made for Pixiecraft I think this must be it! Now there are so many of these days it can be hard to keep track, there is a day to celebrate everything from pizza to sleep (and yes I chose those two things especially for happiness day as they both bring me so much joy!). However International Happiness Day is one I feel really deserves some recognition. Everyday we are bombarded by terrible news stories, personal struggles and a constant pressure to be better. Happiness has become a goal rather than a process and comforting place to be. To be happy is an awfully big pressure to place on anyone, instead I prefer to just seek the small things and acknowledge the every day joys. 

Pixiecraft has always been about spreading joy, inspiring and motivating people through beautiful words and joyful art. Pocket calmers have been stitched and sent out to over a thousand people as a way to carry a little bit of good with you always. (They are always popular so batches of these tend to sell as fast as I make them, if you ever want one and they are out of stock just pop me a message and it can be arranged). 

Happiness doesn't always just come to us though and so I thought I would share a few of my favourite ways to bring joy into my life. On a larger scale I love to look for the good that is happening in the world. The good news network and Positive news are both amazing sites for looking for the good. Whether it is the incredible news that scientists are closer to discovering a way to restore peoples sight or the story on one individual making a haircut easier for an autistic child there is always something to be read that reminds us that the world is filled with wonderful people doing incredible things. 

On a personal level happiness can often seem unachievable and so far from reach. As someone who has lived with a mental illness for most of my life I am painfully aware of how hard happiness can be when you are in the depths of a battle against your own mind. To those of you today who have not felt happiness as your social media has been flooded with stories of joy which can seem as though it is coming so easily to some people, please be kind and gentle with yourself. One of my most stitched hoops to date is "It's always darkest before the dawn" and those words stay with me on the days when joy is gone. 

Happiness need not be the exciting adventures or the life changing moments but in the daily rituals of our life. Start small, and pass it on. If we all share our joy with others, reach out, be kind and embrace the tiny every day victories the world can feel at least a little bit lighter. Tonight as I right this I have a warm kitten snuggled on my feet, chocolate on hand and the knowledge that my two beautiful girls are tucked up in bed after another day of playing and creating. Today I tided my house (a little although you wouldn't be able to tell now! I am sure they enjoy destroying it as fast as I go), I finished a larger commercial project, showed up for therapy and rewarded myself with a short walk by the river. I have sewn some of the days work and the rest will have to be finished tomorrow. Today that is enough and today I choose joy.
Feel free to share your own small joys in the comments and lets celebrate the little things :)

Good night
Katy