(now with audio option)
The world is loud right now.
Notifications. Headlines and Deadlines. Petitions. Social Media. News. Family. Friends. Not to mention what's happening in our own heads. Trying to keep pace is exhausting. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or just plain tired, you are not alone. I’m there too.
In your social media travels, have you crossed paths with the idea of "glimmers"? They are the opposite of triggers. Glimmers are micro-moments of:
joy
beauty
peace
laughter
contentment
love
When everything starts buzzing too loudly in my head, I pause. I look for glimmers in the smallest of places and moments. It's like tuning in a station on an old FM radio. So much is noisy static. But if you practice tuning, you'll find it. And the more you practice, the easier it gets to fine-tune into each station of glimmer.
Here are a few of my recent glimmers:
The change of light with the season. The texture of cracked and peeling paint on an old brick wall. The way my cat's toe beans pressed against a window. The earliest hint of fall color on trees. Being humored by my own attempts at practicing spoken Danish. Laughing at Alan Tudyk's physical comedy in Resident Alien. Being absorbed and delighted by the colors of paint on my brush. Making funny noises back and forth at each other in the car. Meeting a new friend. The comfort and safety of a dear friend. The way some trees' leaves shimmer like silver coins in the wind. Making a good recipe that turned out just right. Tucking my legs and body into soft, cool sheets at the end of the day.
Here's what we both know: Glimmers won't and can't erase our problems. It doesn’t solve what’s happening in the world. But it does offer a moment of breath, a reminder that not everything is chaos. There can be quiet patches. Things worth noticing. Peaceful places where our attention can rest for a bit.
As an artist, I’ve found that taking time to tune into these moments is a necessity. And as a human, I know that these pauses aren’t a luxury—they’re a survival tool. When I let myself look closely, when I pick up a paintbrush or a camera just to see, I reconnect to myself and the world. (Oh!! Small personal epiphany – art is my radio tuner! It's the medium that works the best for me to find glimmers around me.)
You don’t need hours of free time or expensive materials to do this. You don’t need to be an artist. All you need is a willingness to stop for a moment and let something small matter.
If you want to try this for yourself, here’s a simple way:
- Step one: Wherever you are, look around until something catches your eye. (It could be as ordinary as a coffee mug, or as alive as a houseplant leaning toward the sun.)
- Step two: Snap a photo of it, or sketch it, or just write it down. Or, if you are on the move – just make mental sticky note. An, "Aha! I see you there, Glimmer!" You don't have to overthink it.
- Step three: Notice how you feel afterward.
This isn’t about being chronically happy... we're NOT looking for toxic positivity. It’s about giving yourself the gift of attention, of slowing down just long enough to remember you’re still here, still capable of noticing. And, over time, these tiny acts of noticing add up. They become a gentle ritual—a way of saying to yourself:
I matter enough to pause. My inner life deserves a moment of care.
Even if you aren't creating, you are an artist. I've long felt that that's what art is: not just a product or performance, but a lifestyle of paying attention.
So if you’re stretched thin right now, worn down by all the noise and chaos—consider this my invitation to you. To pause. To focus. To see or make something small. To claim that glimmer as yours. It is for you!
Because beauty has a way of reminding us: We're here. We are living. And sometimes the most radical thing we can do is stop long enough to remember that.
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❤️ Janece
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