Day 27: Five Things that Bring Me Joy

The first blog prompt that came up on The Imagination Prompt Generator was "Create a list of your 10 sorrows." 

Ummmm...nope, so not going there today. 

So I decided instead to list five things that bring me joy.  I picked five just because, well, I wanted to keep it short as I do have a tendency to go on.  Anyway, here we go.

1. My kitty.  It does not matter what sort of day I have had Miss Pickles will always bring a smile to my face.  Her sweet eyes, her soft chirpy mews, the ways she gets way too excited about her string toy, her endless cuddles.  She is my sweet girl and I luvs her!

2. Teaching.  I started teaching dance two years ago and I am absolutely in love with doing it.  Seeing a student learn and grow, being a witness to their progress just makes my heart buzz with joy.  And though it seems cliche, it is true that I learn as much, if not more, from my students.  The entire experience of teaching brings so much happiness into my life.

3. Performing.  I am not at all sure that I can express with words the joy that performing brings me.  Whether playing music, doing a spoken word piece,  dancing or creating performance art, I love sharing art with an audience.  Yes, there is the direct reward of applause but I think for me the greatest joy comes from creating that shared moment that comes from the performer-audience connection. When that connection is there it is no longer just a performance being presented on a stage, but something entirely new is born through that shared experience.  There is really nothing else like it for me.

4. Movement. Dancing, walking, weightlifting, running, snowshoeing, skipping, swaying, any sort of movement brings me to my happy place.  If it's movement to music, that is a bonus ;-)

5. Music.  In the past five years I have fallen back in love with music.  I love to listen to it, dance to it, sing to it and most of all make it.  These days music is a part of my life in a way it has not been since I was a teenager.   I'm grateful to have it back.

And finally this:  every one of these things is often even better when shared.  I love seeing folks smile with glee at seeing Miss Pickles antics; teaching is never done alone; collaboration on performance with other artists; sharing a walk, a trek, a dance with another person; and music...I do love to make music with other people.  My friends, those that I love, bring my great joy no matter what we are doing together.

Sooooo...now it's your turn.  What five things bring you joy?