Glimmers def.: tiny micro moments of joy—fleeting, everyday moments that elicit a rush of happiness, gratitude, calm, peace, safety, or goodwill.
My morning glimmers:
Shimmery little drops in my dog’s whiskers from where he buried his face in the wet grass, joyfully scenting the earth.
My legs, still stiff from skating, protest every crunch-scrunch step on the gravel pathway through the woods. This is what it feels like to be alive today.
Yesterday, there were buds on the magnolia trees that line our path. Today, miraculously, there are delicate, white flowers. They are tinged with pink around the edges of the petals. The insides, a yolky yellow. There are fat, green buds on the willow trees, half-unfurled, which I know will soon be catkins. I am watching the world come to life again.
The softest plink-plink of rain on the leaves in the canopy overhead. The caw of crows. The whistle of a sparrow. Things you miss if you can’t get quiet enough.
A child’s plastic toy, rescued by a good Samaritan and left where it can be found. The innocence of it. These little kindnesses.
A writing exercise from my Masters, the brief was to take a list (it could be anything, from a playlist to names in a phonebook) and use it to generate a short piece of writing. I immediately thought of gratitude lists. I found the examples above on TikTok, which became the inspiration for this post.
I post my little glimmers on Instagram stories most mornings. It’s a practise of gratitude, but also of noticing the small miracles that surround us. The little bits of magic. It’s about being present and quiet enough to listen, to the earth around me, to myself. It immeasurably improves my day. It carries through into everything else I do.
You can see some of my glimmer boards below. And I’d love to hear about some of yours!
Once Upon A Dandelion Dream 