A smile relieves a heart that grieves. Remember what I said. –The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
So far this long weekend has been exactly what I needed. When I left work Thursday, I’d planned to take the four-day weekend seriously re: self-care and joy breaks. I had some “unfinished business,” so I worked till noon Friday and I haven’t thought about work since then.
I have been just as serious about my 10 days of joy.
Yesterday, I held my first full “brain dump” session in a long time and ended up with a three-page list of all the things that have been nipping at my soul. Now, I know that doesn’t sound very “joyful.” And it isn’t. In fact, without context, the list is sad, stressful, anxious, but the JOY is in how I felt after writing the list! I have been carrying too much stuff internally, and when I don’t deal with it or even take a moment to acknowledge it, all that soul-gunk spills out in not-so-nice ways. So…taking an hour or so Sunday morning to detoxify my soul was beneficial in many ways.
I’m not sure I would have been able to even approach that list if the guys and I hadn’t taken time out for creativity Saturday afternoon. We grabbed our cameras, headed downtown, donned our masks, and took a two-hour photo walk. The weather was perfect—cloudy, cool, and breezy.
I noted the typical street scenes—musicians playing, private conversations, storefronts, architecture, diners—but, because I am nearly obsessed with street art, the Clinton Row Colorwalk was my favorite joy moment of the walk!
The Clinton Row Colorwalk is an alley filled with murals painted by Huntsville (Alabama) artists.
Needless to say, every single piece of work thrilled me, but the quote written along the frame of the Mick Jagger portrait transformed the art into a powerful statement:
I pray that looking beyond this day we can all work together to overcome the hatred and division and start to heal the pain and suffering that everybody is feeling in this country.
Here’s a collage of “sneak peaks” of some the other pieces:
To see the full pieces, see my Flickr album here > Clinton Row Colorwalk Album and for more information about the art and some of the artists’ processes, check out the Facebook page here > Clinton Row Colorwalk Community.
What is today’s joy break? I’ll be spending time with family safely celebrating my baby cousin’s kindergarten graduation!
Joy all around!
Pics and Posts 
I have had a pretty active weekend. But now @ 2PM on Monday I plan to just sit in my favorite chair & read!
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Yay!!! That’s the best!
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Love the artwork btw.
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“and when I don’t deal with it or even take a moment to acknowledge it, all that soul-gunk spills out in not-so-nice ways” same. I try to monitor myself, accordingly lol
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I try, but fail so often these days. Learning to give myself grace.
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Yup, brain dumps needed periodically so I can breathe
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Amen. Life saver for sure.
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Glad knowing that you feel better after doing that. Lovely and colorful captions. 🙂
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Thank you! I hope you’re doing well!
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Yes, ma’am. Thanks for asking. 😊
How about you?
Happy Sunday. 😊
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I love the art you have displayed here, but my favorite part of this post is your description of the “soul detoxification” work you did. Sounds like something I need to sit down and attend to. Blessings to you and yours!
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Yes. I probably should do it weekly these days!
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