Taking pleasure in the details

Last night the wind was howling in between the rows of olives, swirling around the base of the pines and rushing through the gums. This morning when I woke the rain was tumbling down and chestnuts lay sprawled over the ground in the corner of the yard ready to be picked up and roasted. Grey cloud hangs heavy around the mountain and the birds pick over the soft, chocolatey soil. It's a perfect beginning to the last day of Rohan's holidays and my easter break.

One of my favourite films is Reality Bites and I love that line where Ethan Hawke says 'So I take pleasure in the details. You know...a quarter-pounder with cheese, the sky about 10 minutes before it starts to rain, the moment when your laughter becomes a cackle'. Last night a friend posted about the 100 happy days challenge on Facebook and asked who was going to do it with her. I said I would as it reminded me of that line from Reality Bites - the idea of taking pleasure in the details. The idea of the 100 happy days challenge is to take the time to pause and appreciate the happy moments of life, rather than letting life rush past. It's not about putting on a facade of happiness in the face of soul crushing unhappiness, something that is akin to putting a band aid on a gaping, festering wound. Instead, the thing that appeals to me about this challenge is the notion of taking the time to pay attention to the things that make you happy and to catch yourself in a moment of happiness, to press 'pause' on the play button.

I'm not good at signing on to things though, so I'm not doing the official sign up or taking on the challenge to instagram every  moment. Instead, I'm just going to put 7 images for the week on my blog here - one a day, 7 moments that represent a pressing of the pause button and the catching of the moment when a laugh becomes a cackle.