Joy

Daily writing prompt

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

I feel joy when my iced coffee tastes right in the morning, because I have learned that the key to happiness is small expectations. I used the cold brew method for 32 oz of Cafe Bustelo, and the smile on my face is priceless every time I take a sip. A good cup of coffee sets the tone for the whole day for me.

Mostly because my coffee time is also my time with you. It’s almost 0600, and dawn is just beginning to creep over the horizon. I think of my friends across the Atlantic and wonder what the day is already holding for them. What am I going to find out by being awake? I choose to believe in joy there, too, because for every piece of bad news there is a baby born, a new relationship formed, love to be celebrated.

I have to find my own joy in this administration, because everything from my identity as a nonbinary person to my ability to marry a woman is under attack. It doesn’t matter that I’m not planning on getting married again, to anyone. It matters for my friends who are already married or are planning on it. If abortion rights could be taken away, so could gay marriage, because abortion was settled law a lot longer.

It’s hard to remain joyful in that kind of pressure cooker, so again, I turn to the way my coffee tastes. I have to create my own joy, because no one is going to do it for me.

Generating joy is not my specialty. My brain delights in getting me to isolate from other people, even though I know I need them. I find that if I can start with one thing, the coffee, then I can slowly find another.

Maybe it’s the feel of my t-shirt against my skin, or the air conditioner tickling my bare feet. Maybe it will be the feel of the water as I start my shower.

Although I should do some laundry before I take a shower….

Whatever the case may be, I can generate happiness. If I start with something small and concrete like the taste of my coffee, I am not setting myself up for failure later in the day.