Sometimes when life gets hectic and I have a lot to do it’s hard to pay attention to the little things.

It’s hard to appreciate frost on a window when I am rushing past, in a hurry to finish the next item on my To Do list.

It’s hard to sit with a cup of freshly brewed tea and savor the fragrance, the warmth of the cup in my hand or the feel of my tummy warming up from the hot liquid.

It’s hard to cuddle up with my pup and just soak up all of the love and joy.

It’s hard to relax and enjoy a quiet moment when my eyes see dust and cobwebs everywhere.

The thing is, it’s those little things that make life enjoyable. They are also the things, for me, that feed my creativity.

Without the little things we spend our time in a repeating cycle of wake, work, sleep – rinse and repeat. Eventually we start to feel frustrated, stressed and depressed.

We NEED those little things.

The scent of an orange or a warm cup of chai tea.

We NEED fuzzy cuddles with a pup to make us remember how loved we are and how good it feels to give love.

We NEED to close our eyes and ignore the cobwebs and take a few moments to just breathe.

We NEED to feed ourselves color, fragrance, small details, patterns and images in order to keep doing all of the things we do.

Sometimes the best thing I can do for myself when I’ve been rushing around like a crazy woman is to stop and clear off a desk or dresser.

Take everything off and wipe it clean of dust.

Then start putting things back again. Only the things I love, that make me smile, that bring a certain something to the small space.

I polish them, arrange them and build a small vignette to the season, the holiday or just my mood at the moment.

That one little bright spot is guaranteed to make me stop and smile for several days. I’ll be whizzing through the room and come up short, rearrange a small item, breathe and then move on.

It’s a little thing but it’s the little things that make life enjoyable, fill the creative well and make living a creative life worthwhile.

What kinds of little things do you do that make life enjoyable?