Gratitude & happiness: can they slow down time?
I’ve been busy with this, that, and all the other things. How about you?
Herb work picks up in the fall as I do more farmers markets and holiday events, and stocking up seems to be a daily task. I love creating our product line, and it doesn’t ever feel like work. But lately, I’ve been asking myself what else I’d be doing with my time, and the answers are compelling. Cooking, reading, camping, hiking, more time with friends, and more time just being. So for 2026, my intention is to actually schedule my self-employed self some time off to do absolutely nothing. But until then, I’m excited for these two events!
Come say hi! During Merry Healdsburg, find me in the middle of the Matheson block near Copperfield’s, right next to Michelle Schultz of Lucky Heron.
Two days later, join us on Moore Lane for the makers market of the season! So many talented, local makers bringing their good vibes and great gifts. We’re partnering up again with Heartizens. This year, they’ll offer a kid zone so your littles can hang and get crafty while you sip, shop, and snarf pizza. And, as Elf says, Santa’s coming!
Visit us at 428 & 444 Moore Lane on Sunday, December 7th from 12:00-4:00. It feels like a holiday parade of friends passing through. Merry and jolly all day long.
I’ve been working on a few new products and couple of twists to some beloved faves. Here’s a peek at the first two.
You’re So Vein. It started with learning about horse chestnut and yarrow as herbal support for the venous system. As a massage therapist, I occasionally see spider veins and varicose veins, and I wanted to make a cream that might help strengthen this system, while easing pain and discomfort.
I won’t lie: the final push that really encouraged me to make this cream was the name. When it came to me in the form of this song, I knew I had to follow through!
Introducing: Shimmer Mint!
Tinted pink with a dying herb called alkanet, also used in the Orange Grapefruit Lip Balm, it’s as rich and luscious as our other lip balms, but the addition of the lip-safe mica deepens the color and gives it a bit of a sparkly shimmer. Peppermint essential oil perks this one up for a season of smiles and sweet kisses under the mistletoe.
I thought about this saying the other day while dancing to the California Honeydrops with my daughter, and I realized that, yes, today is a gift and it is the present, but BEING present is also a gift.
The present doesn’t feel much like a gift if we’re not in the moment. If we’re distracted, or distracting ourselves. When we are 100% in it, when we’re paying attention to what it is we’re engaging in, when we’re taking a moment to think, “Ah, my favorite band. Dancing. With my daughter! This is LIFE!” That is when we soak in the joy.
It sounds like mindfulness is trying to creep into my awareness. Have you ever read an article about mindful eating?
We all know it: we digest our food better when we are just eating when we eat. When we take a moment to pause before we dig in and say whatever form of grace suits us, whether it’s clasped hands, murmuring to the powers that be or a “Thank you to the chef!” or a poem like the one we’d say when our daughter was little: Blessings on the table; Blessings on the roof; Blessings on the vegetables, and Blessings on the fruit, it makes a difference. This pause. We’re not just inhaling our food without notice. Not only is it healthier for our digestion, it is healthier for our nervous systems, and our state of mind.
When we live life more slowly, we’re not moving through it like it’s a game of Pac-Man, gobbling up the moments, seeking the next dot to inhale. Instead, we live with more care and awareness, which helps us experience life with much more satisfaction and joy.
So, the feeling that time, a very precious resource, is speeding up can maybe be slowed down and enjoyed more by simply paying attention.
Zu and I recently read our happiness journals from 2017 and 2018. In 2017, we kept a big, blue jar and we’d write on little scraps of paper each night. The next year, I bought an extra datebook from CVS and we’d fill each day’s rectangle with whatever had made us happy that day. It’s different than a gratitude journal. While the practice of a gratitude journal felt somewhat forced, a happiness journal felt easy.
There is a difference between gratitude and happiness. The other night, I was feeling grateful for my cozy bed. But while in that cozy bed, I was listening to a particularly long and energetic conversation between a couple of owls, and that made me very, very happy. I woke up thinking about those owls, wondering what they had been talking about. Gratitude for a roof over my head feels deep and wide, almost as if I ought to look around for how I can repay my good fortune. Paying attention and noticing that the owls were chatting, interrupting each other and excitedly telling their stories: that just made me grin. Gratitude & happiness. We’re blessed to feel them both.
May your holiday table be laden with delicious, nutritious food, and circled by beloved friends and family. If you’re spending it away from the people you love, remember that love knows no boundaries, but exists in our hearts, minds, and memories.
