It's the little things that make me smile

This morning, I made friends with a ladybug on the subway. I had to nudge it up to the edge of the window to keep it from getting crushed by my arm; it wandered around on my hand for a moment before flying up to the light at the top of the subway car.

Yesterday, I celebrated July 4th by sleeping until 11am for the first time in weeks, doing about as much yoga as I could handle (which wasn't much, considering the heat), and having an indoor picnic with my boyfriend, which was followed by catching up on some much-needed organization about the homestead. The night ended sitting on the sidewalk on Memorial Drive, watching fireworks while the Pops played, and then home to sleep in the first bed I've had in five years that has been able to promise me an actual night of sleep, instead of tossing and turning, trying to find a spot that doesn't kill my back.

Sometimes, when life gets way too hectic for me (which is more often than I'd care to admit), I forget to step back and take stock of the little things in life that make me smile—those things that, when considered as a whole, make up a pretty damn good life, despite the occasional stressers. I don't think I'm alone in this—many of us, from time to time, become just a little more human than we allow ourselves to be and let the stress of the day overwhelm us. Too often we forget that just before that idiot cut us off (or posted an inane article and wouldn't listen to the inevitable criticism that arose from it), someone we didn't know wished us a good day, or helped us figure out a problem that had been plaguing us for weeks.

Why does this seem such a huge part of human nature? Why do we focus so clearly on the negative things that befall us in our daily lives that all the really wonderful things—the smiles and the hugs and the brief moments of beauty that surround us every day—get swept under the avalanche of late nights, road rage and impossible deadlines?

I can't claim to know the answer, but I have a theory—negative thoughts weigh more than positive ones. Thus, when a negative thought enters your mind, it has to be replaced by two positive ones in order to achieve balance.

Yes, it sounds completely hippyish, and well—I am a hippie. Deal with it.

That said, there's been an awful lot of negativity floating around the last couple of weeks, so I shall now attempt to counteract it with a brief list of little things that make me smile. Feel free to add your own to this list, or create one of your own! Whatever deity you align with knows we could use it.

Things that make me smile:

• a boyfriend who brings me flowers for no other reason than he saw them in the store.
• reading in courtyard on a warmish summer day.
• HAVING a courtyard on a warmish summer day that is actually about 10-15 degrees cooler than outside the courtyard on a warmish summer day.
• making my own veggie stock with the veggie peelings I save in the freezer.
• cooking something yummy with said veggie stock.
• being generally of good health, despite occasional stress.
• having plentiful space to do yoga in my home, as well as space to have my own studio.
• finding a penny on the sidewalk, heads up.
• the Spanish guitarist who plays in the Park Street Red Line station on weekdays.
• the fact that there's a peace sign statue attached to the top of the tunnel at the same station. I noticed that one today.
• having a really good book to read that has absolutely nothing to do with design, being a designer, or running a business.
• fresh strawberries and blueberries from June until July.

So, what's on your list?

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Dani Nordin is the founder of the zen kitchen, a graphic and web design studio in Somerville MA that helps businesses and non-profit organizations build a more consistent and effective image through eco-friendly print and standards-based web design. She's also quite often too much of an optimist for her own good—however, she really doesn't care. For more information, visit http://tzk-design.com.