34 Moments of Joy

A list to celebrate turning 34

Mar 08, 2024

On my 32nd birthday in 2022, I wrote a gratitude. Today, on my 34th birthday, I again feel inspired to write a list. But now a list of joyful moments. [Note: I apparently skipped this list in 2023 because I moved out of my house and across the country on my birthday last year.]

So why joy? At the end of 2023, I finished my first “5 year journal” — a journal with one page for each day of the year, with five spaces on each page. I used this journal to write what I felt grateful for each day. On January 1 of this year, I began a new 5 year journal. I decided to change it up and focus on writing a joyful moment of the day. In 5 years, I will have a journal full of joyful moments.

This practice has led me to ask myself, “how do I define joy?” My women’s group (through At The Well) addressed this question last month as we discussed the theme of Adar, the current Hebrew month. A key theme of Adar is joy — How can we cultivate joy in our lives? How can we find joy in a world full of pain? Even in the most painful times, joy can be within reach. It all depends on how you define it.

You can even take this quiz to find out what type of joy you can cultivate in your life.

My working definition of joy (and this is subject to change over time):

The feeling of being fully present and engaged in a moment of aliveness. It isn’t just about feeling happy — happiness exists independently. Joy is about feeling alive, and in awe of being alive. On this planet. In this body.

And now to my list. In mostly chronological order, below are 34 moments where I felt joy in the past year:

Meeting my friend Rachel’s son on my birthday last year;
Walking around DC and seeing the Cherry Blossoms;
Hiking in Great Falls Park (amazingly, we now live five minutes away);
Celebrating my friend Daniel’s birthday at a cidery and watching two very cute toddlers sit at a mini table together;
Laughing uncontrollably in the Berkshires with my aunt, uncle, and cousins;
Getting to know my friend Jodi’s kids since she now only lives an hour away;
All of the walks in Rock Creek Park;
Taking my friend Sarah’s son to a swim lesson and holding him while he giggled in the water;
Morning walks with Jonathan to Tatte and then Malcolm X/Meridian Hill park;
The times I wrote my morning pages and other writings at Doubles;
Eating a Russ & Daughters lox bagel sandwich with Jonathan while watching someone play the piano in the park (this is why NYC is amazing);
Celebrating my brother’s birthday with the most epic (and most French) picnic atop Montmartre in Paris;
Basically every single meal in France;
Watching Jonathan and my friend Sarah’s son truly become the best of friends;
Walking to Navy Yard from the Warf in DC on July 4th and coming way too close to street fireworks;
Hiking to Hierve el Agua in Oaxaca with Jordan and swimming in the pools;
The cooking class in Oaxaca;
Meeting my friend Katie’s daughter for the first time;
Tasting ice cream after tubing at Harpers Ferry in the summer;
Visiting our friend Jake and Lindsay’s farm near Charlottesville and cooking with all farmer’s market ingredients;
Reading by the pool at Keswick Hall to celebrate our anniversary;
Kayaking in the Potomac with Jonathan;
Frolicking through a field of wildflowers at the National Arboretum;
Portland, ME in the fall;
All of the times Tabor needed to wear his yellow rain jacket;
Hiking Shenandoah National Park in the fall;
Noticing bright red, orange, yellow, and purple leaves in the fall (clearly, fall brings me a lot of joy);
Watching that 2nd line appear on a pregnancy test;
Walking on the beach with my family in San Diego on Thanksgiving;
Eating a chocolate croissant at Patty O’s Cafe;
Running with Tabor on a snow covered soccer field this January;
Meeting four of my oldest friends in Austin for the weekend and watching all of their babies interact with each other;
Watching our baby wiggle around inside of me during my 20 week scan;
Laying on a blanket with Tabor in our new backyard.