The Wake Up Moment

During one session I made an offhand comment. Half joking, I said, “I sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.”

My coach paused and replied, “Yeah… you’re bringing me down too.” It landed like a gut punch. It was uncomfortable to hear but in that moment I realized something important. My baseline attitude had quietly drifted toward negativity.

I didn't want to ignore difficult emotions. Pretending everything is fine is not healthy and it can become a form of spiritual bypassing. But I also knew I was tired of allowing negativity to shape my outlook on life. So I decided to try a small experiment.

A Thirty Day Experiment in Noticing Joy

For thirty days I committed to a simple practice. Every morning during my walk, I intentionally looked for what I started calling “hints of gladness.” The phrase comes from the poet Mary Oliver, who once wrote about trees giving off hints of gladness that almost save her, daily.

The idea was simple. Instead of focusing on worries or problems, I would pay attention to small moments of goodness around me. Not big dramatic events. Just small things.

The Small Moments That Changed Everything

At first it felt almost too simple, but slowly something began to shift as I noticed... Sunlight moving through tree branches. Birdsong returning with the spring season. A stranger offering a friendly wave. The smell of ocean air in the morning.

Nothing in my life circumstances dramatically changed. What changed was my attention and focus. I started naming the small things that brought quiet delight.

When the Shift Happened

After about three weeks something surprising happened. The moments of joy were no longer limited to my morning walk. I began to notice them throughout the entire day. My perspective had changed. The joy had always been there. I simply had not been paying attention.

Joy Is Already Present

That insight eventually became the foundation for my course on Insight Timer called Hints of Gladness: Rediscovering Happiness Through Intention and Awareness.

But the deeper discovery was this. There is nothing we need to fix before we can experience joy. There is nothing we need to achieve. We simply need to notice. Joy does not need to be spectacular. Often it appears in the quiet, ordinary moments of life.

An Invitation to Slow Down

If you take the time to pause and look closely at your day, you may begin to see what was there all along.

A moment of kindness.
A beautiful piece of music.
A quiet walk outside.
The warmth of sunlight on your face.

These are the hints of gladness woven through everyday life. And sometimes the simple act of noticing them is enough to bring us home to ourselves.

Peace.

Explore the Hints of Gladness Course

I recently created a course on Insight Timer inspired by this practice of walking, noticing, and being present in nature through prayer and meditation.

As my spiritual director once told me, the practice is simply this: Just noticing.

The course is an invitation to rediscover happiness not as something we must create, but as something already present in our lives. You can learn more about the course here:
https://insighttimer.com/meditation-courses/hints-of-gladness-rediscovering-happiness-through-intention-and-awareness

You can also listen to the course introduction below.