You can experience glimmers just like I do.
Pen to Paper: Edition 43
I didn’t know I was in daily pursuit of glimmers.
I didn’t know what glimmers were. Have you heard of them?
Glimmer is the opposite of a trigger. Like a micro moment that makes you happier, a little moment of awe, something that makes you feel hope. Once you start looking for them and embracing them, your life feels so much sweeter. -Anne Blake
I thought about my daily walks when I read this on FaceBook last week. During each walk, I intentionally look for something to take a picture of and post on Instagram. Anything that I see beauty in or makes me wonder will do. Most of the photos I share with you are a glimmer.
There are so many small things to appreciate. And like so many good things in life, they are all around us.
Once we know how to recognize them, they are easier to find. I encounter glimmers all the time. For me, they are moments of joy or a little spark of happiness.
Your other four senses detect glimmers too.
The voicemail you keep just to hear someone you love.
The smell of your favorite flower.
The taste of that special family recipe.
The silky feel of your pet’s fur.
It turns out glimmers bring more than joy and happiness.
Glimmers cue the nervous system to feel safe and calm. Deb Dana coined the term in 2018 in her book The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy. Experiencing glimmers is good for your mental health. Sara Moniuszko writes about glimmers in this USA Today article.
The really good thing about glimmers is that you can get better at finding them. All it takes is practice. Like other habits, such as gratitude, journaling, and meditation, consistent practice makes finding glimmers easier.
Even if you follow me on Instagram and see every picture I post, you may not understand how easy it can become to recognize glimmers. My daily walk is on the same one-mile stretch of road. It’s a rare day that I don’t take at least one picture that sparks happiness for me.
As your ability to find glimmers grows, so does the benefit of experiencing them.
You can create glimmers for others to experience.
How? By being the person who brings a smile to their face. Your words and actions can be a source of glimmers.
I’m looking for glimmers all the time, and trying to create them.
7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good
Do you see the glimmer in the photo above? This is a view from when it first caught my eye on my morning walk.🚶♀️
This article tells how glimmers went viral on TikTok.
A quote: “Really true, good, and great things are always simple.” - Leo Tolstoy
Are you interested in experiencing more glimmers? This article includes four actions you can take.
As an addendum to last week’s post, I’m sharing this article on curing America’s loneliness epidemic.
I’m grateful for the many glimmers I’ve experienced, even when I didn’t have a name for them and a real understanding of their benefits. 🙏
Now I’ll show you my glimmer photo in the zoom setting on my phone camera. 📷
That’s right! It’s one of the neighborhood rabbits.
Thanks for reading!
I hope you experience glimmers this week. If you do, leave a comment and tell me about them.
Sharing this post with a friend might increase glimmers in their life.
Enjoy your week of searching!
❤
Susan
It’s so nice to have a name for these when they occur! It makes me more conscious of watching for them! Thanks so much, Susan!
Love this post! We are sooooo on the same wavelength. I've never heard of it called glimmers but this is exactly how I have intentionally lived for the last 3 years. After my son died (in 2020) I started making a point of noticing small pieces of beauty and smile-inducing moments anywhere I go. Then I say quietly, "Everywhere I see beauty, there you are." 😊