My Joy List
July 22nd - 28th: packing for Italy, belly rubs, & rainy exploring
You’re reading a newsletter from Syd, an NYC-born gal who quit her “golden handcuffs” job and moved to Amsterdam to follow her heart’s calls for a path less traveled. Here, I share the challenges and wins of my own journey from people pleasing & perfectionism to authenticity, balance, joy, & freedom. Beyond this page, I coach fellow high achievers along their own journey. I also share their stories in a podcast, The Path Less Traveled. You may find comfort, empowerment, inspiration, and/or community. Welcome 🫶🏻
Hi my sunshines!
I’m writing this first part ahead of time (last Wednesday by now) because I’m preparing to head to Italy and Paris for the weekend! I want to be completely in vacay mode.
Historically, I was the person who was like “oh I’ll throw my bag together in an hour” at 9pm the night before a 7am flight, and then would grow increasingly frustrated as one hour turned into two or three. I’d think I was almost done, and then I’d realize I hadn’t picked out shoes… or makeup… or jewelry. I just wanted to go to bed.
Starting my packing process more than one day in advance makes a huge difference, but no matter how much I say I’m going to do so, I usually end up packing the day before. Old habits die hard.
So, naturally, I’m packing the day before this trip. :) BUT it’s less stressful than it used to be.
Starting to pull items out and put them on my bed throughout the day, far before going to bed, helps, but the biggest help is starting to pack before I actually touch any physical items.
In other words, I start packing by making a packing list with chat GPT. I give it my itinerary and ask it to include the weather forecast when making the list. Truly my favorite travel hack of late. It’s a game changer.
I’ll share more about the trip after it happens, but you’ll get a sense of what’s on tap from the list alone:
How insanely helpful is that!? And then I had it make this table, to make it even easier to pack with the weather in mind:
Other thoughts/ideas I’m mulling:
Anger can coexist with acceptance. Acceptance does not mean peace. It means the willingness to be honest about what is, which may include anger and other uncomfortable emotions. Peace does, however, often end up as a byproduct of acceptance, either because acceptance transmutes anger into peace, OR because peace and anger coexist. I’m in quite a bit of awe of this realization, and gratitude. How might this, if I’m able to keep it top of mind, aid me in deepening my sense of self compassion? How might this enable me to be honest when I feel anger and other uncomfortable emotions, rather than shame and therefore bury them? How might this guide me closer to freedom and self-love?
Ok! Time for the list, which includes moments from my trip this past weekend :) More about the trip to come. Happy joy spotting! :)
Joy spotting: the practice of noticing little moments of joy surrounding us all the time (more)
rubs laying in my arms while I rub her belly in the office
Breathing in deeply the smell of those purple cone shaped flowers I love so much
The Dutch man eating a chocolate bar on a bench who smiled and said “you look so friendly” (in a very sweet and not creepy way!)
The stunning white hydrangeas lining the building at the entrance to the park
The quintessentially rosey smell when I leaned over to smell the slightly open hot pink rose bud
Turning around to find a bed of magenta roses swimming in baby’s breath while listening to rocket man
The hertz-branded diffuser at the car rental desk
The kindness of the attendant when we went in the wrong lane at the toll booth to bergamot
The tiny basil plant in a shopping bag as a parting gift from the restaurant
When the hostess ran after us because chef babo wanted to say goodbye
The fabulous double kiss from chef babo on our way out
The daughter reaching out, wordlessly and unprompted, to help her dad unravel his hood from his rain jacket when it started drizzling on the ferry
… and the dad then reaching to his right to put his wife’s hood on her head, wordlessly and unprompted
The woman wearing her hair in a towel turban while on the elliptical at the Milan hotel gym
Walking through Milan with A in the torrential downpour
A’s spontaneous tiramisu order at the old school espresso spot
Taking cover at the standing espresso bar next to the chic Milanese lady having an espresso and pastry
The little girl who smiled at me from behind the gate as i walked by and made contact with her on the shopping street with L.G.R. in Milan
Trying on sunglasses with A
The young girl smiling at the camera while the rest of her family jovially looked elsewhere in the photo at the Wolfgang Tillmans exhibit at the Pompidou
There are many other joyful moments from my trip that I didn’t write down. I captured some with photos, and I hope to share those with you along with a recap of the trip, but I want to get back to enjoying the last leg of this journey: the beautiful train ride from Paris to Amsterdam.
I’ll leave you with a few photos that capture a big theme well: smiles, rain or shine.
Have a lovely, lovely week as we enter AUGUST! (Pardon!?!) Please do one thing this week that brings you joy that you can only do in summer. And now, go plan that joyful thing.
Big squeeze from me to you!
Love,
Syd
BTW… in case you missed the last episode of The Path Less Traveled:
