Glimmers

Do you know what a trigger is in psychology? It’s defined as “something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma.” It can vary from person to person depending on their personal experiences and the severity of a persons reactions to their triggers can also have a wide range of responses. They say that a person’s triggers are activated through one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. In a nutshell, you experience something that pulls you into a difficult place reminding you of your past trauma. It’s horrible but at the same time, every single person I know has at least one trigger of some kind. We’re all struggling through this and don’t worry I’m not here to discuss our triggers, maybe another day, on a much braver day, today I’m talking about glimmers. I saw the idea on TikTok a few months back and it was a video that I saw, thought was cute, kept scrolling, and now somehow find myself thinking about it all of the time. In this video a woman describes the opposite of a trigger, as what she would like to call a Glimmer. Something that brings you a moment of joy, a pocket of happiness that comes over you when you experience something. If I remember correctly the example she gave was that she ordered espresso to-go at a coffee shop and they gave her the tiniest paper coffee cup with a matching tiny lid. Something about this made her giggle and brought her so much joy that she could barely contain herself. Since then I’ve thought so much about glimmers in my own life, moments or items that without rhyme or reason make me inexplicably happy and I keep finding them pretty much every day. It turns out, if you reframe your brain a bit and focus on the tiny things that bring you joy, you’ll realize you’re actually surrounded by it. Here is my list that seems to keep getting longer -

When you see a dog and they come right up to you • Purple or yellow flowers • First sip of coffee • Making someone laugh, extra points if it’s a kid • Perfectly ripe tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt on warm, toasted bread • A good hug • When a baby falls asleep on your chest • Long, slow walks • Driving with the windows down • Finishing a book and sitting there for a moment to let it’s story wash over you • Sound of the ocean • Perfectly chilled white wine • Standing under an awning while it rains and the raindrops splash up on your bare legs • When Penelope wants me to pick her up just to hold her • New Sharpies • Candles that smell so good they remind you to take a few deep breaths • Birds chirping • Ice cream • Perfectly worn in clothes • Standing on line to board a plane • Cobalt blue glassware • Fluffy pillows • Lemon scented hand soap • Coloring books that only have images on one side of the paper • Fun shaped post it’s • Lavender and Vanilla in all of their forms • Purple pens • Looking at pictures • Laying in a hammock • New journals and sketchpads • Holding hands with someone you love • And obviously, perfectly curated nightstands as shown in the picture above

Glimmers can be anything and everything, big or small, easy to understand or completely ridiculous to others, but if it brings you joy then it’s worth celebrating.