Hi all! Here I am with my monthly update on my 2022 word of the year: JOY. I am joining the Word of the Year linky and Lisa’s One Word linky.
Last year, the month of June was rather tumultuous. This year was no different at first. It started with the manager telling me that temp workers had to be put in place to work in my home more often than usual and this would mean I would get temping staff to work my one-on-one shifts too. I wasn’t amused and this caused me to be rather stubborn and strong-willed at first.
I can’t say that working with temp staff has gotten easier over the month. All I can hope for is that, by summer’s end, enough regular staff will have been hired.
Thankfully, there were a couple of extraordinarily fantastical experiences that helped me find joy this month. One was seeing my assigned staff’s pet hedgehog on the 13th. Of course, when picking my word, I intended to enjoy the ordinary. I do that, too.
That being said, I do need to practise being grateful in my heart with any blessings coming my way. My birthday celebrations this weekend show this: my parents gave me presents they’d gotten at the thrift store and, while I was genuinely happy with one of them, I wasn’t with the rest. Of course, I tried not to show it, but I need to work on cultivating a grateful heart even in this situation.
I remember, when I picked “joy” as my word of the year, being in doubt about possibly choosing a word such as “creative”. That, though, sounded too easy. Indeed, most joy I’ve found over the month of June has been with the creative process. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been genuinely enjoying the polymer clay craft in particular. I have a couple pieces that still need a few coats of glaze, but which then I’m eager to show you all.
With respect to finding daily notes or reminders of my word, in the form of quotes, Bible verses, etc., I haven’t been doing so well. I collected a few but then stopped. I might want to collect reminders of my word whenever I see them rather than focusing on one per day as a requirement.
Overall, the month ended better than it started. This may be because this weekend is my birthday weekend (tomorrow is my actual birthday). Then again, I think I said this in April and May too, so maybe the fact that I’m writing my monthly updates later in the month, makes me remember the joys of the last part of the month better, since they’re more recent.
How was your June?
A Multitude of Musings 
Happy birthday Astrid!
I like the idea of collecting reminders of Joy.
Heart gratitude is a practice.
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Thanks so much! 💜
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I am glad you have been able to find joy even when you had some testing times. I hope you get more regular staff soon. Happy belated birthday.
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Haha you were right on time wishing me a happy birthday, since it was yesterday (Monday). Thanks so much! I really hope I’ll get some more regular staff indeed.
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Happy Birthday, tomorrow.
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Thank you so much!
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A pet hedgehog? That sounds like fun. Glad you’ve found joy in your creative ventures. Yeah, having to find one thing a day might take the joy out of it for me. It sounds like collecting reminders whenever you see them might bring more joy. Happy birthday, Astrid! So glad you added this post at our One Word linkup!
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Thanks so very much for stopping by and for the birthday wishes. The pet hedgehog is really fascinating indeed. I am so grateful my creativity is flowing, although it can be a source of frustration too when things aren’t going to plan. I agree the pressure of needing to find a reminder of my word each day wasn’t helping me.
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I was on holidays on your birthday, but want to wish you a very happy belated birthday! 🙂 I hope it was a great day for you.
I’m sorry you’re still struggling with the temp staff, though I can totally see how it can be difficult so it’s not surprising at all.
I’m glad there was one present that you got from your parents that you felt genuinely grateful for. 🙂
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Thank you so much for the belated birthday wishes! I hope your holiday was good.
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Yes, it was pretty good, thanks! 🙂
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I do hope you’ve had a happy birthday Astrid, I tend to stretch mine out for as long as I can these days to make the most of the joy. Love the sound of a pet hedgehog 🙂
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Thanks for commenting! I had most of my birthday celebrations over the weekend, while Monday was my actual birthday. I also bought ice cream for my fellow residents on Tuesday. (I’d originally intended on baking cookies, but the ready-made cookie dough was out of stock.) This meant I essentially had four days that reminded me of my birthday, plus yesterday (Wednesday) a staff gifted me some fondant cutters to use with my polymer clay that his wife no longer used. I do love to stretch out my birthday celebrations too and my sister will be visiting me at the end of July for a much-belated birthday celebration too.
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Happy Birthday Astrid! I love reading your posts, because they are so genuine. I like walking on your journey as you share what you’re learning, and you don’t spare us the hard parts. Rejoicing with you in your progress! Would love to see some pics of your clay projects!
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Thank you so much for your encouraging comment. I have since writing this post shared some of my clay projects. They’re in the “Crafty” category of my blog.
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Happy (belated) Birthday, Astrid! I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of your creative creations!
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Thank you. I haven’t been as crafty as I’d liked to have been, but any creativity is good, right?
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Definitely! I just organized my hand lettering pens, but I haven’t taken the time to be creative with them. And I did order some new coloring books. I think I need to make a “creative date” to make a creative opportunity for myself. 🙂
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That’s such a wonderful idea! I remember the “artist dates” in The Artist’s Way, but even the first week’s one seemed overwhelming because it involved giving myself stickers for each completed day of Morning Pages, while I, being blind, can hardly use stickers. Then again, I had to adjust the whole idea of Morning Pages, because among other things I can’t handwrite. No wonder I quickly gave up on the whole thing, even though I’d really like to pick it up in a way that works for me again.
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