![\"\"](\"https:\/\/spcdn.shortpixel.ai\/spio\/ret_img,q_orig,to_webp,s_webp\/joythebaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2917_VSCO-768x1024.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/spcdn.shortpixel.ai\/spio\/ret_img,q_orig,to_webp,s_webp\/joythebaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_2917_VSCO-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been in a Master of Fine Arts program for the past two and a half years, working on a degree in Writing (I studied both fiction <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> nonfiction, hence the extra half-year) and I\u2019ve been preparing my graduate lecture, which is about using details to create a world in both fiction and nonfiction. In reality, it is about noticing. It\u2019s about paying attention to the world and helping readers do the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ironically, despite being prepared to deliver a 30-minute talk about using sensory details and paying attention, I\u2019m not very good at taking my advice when I\u2019m busy, as I often am. I tell myself I will enjoy things later or that there\u2019s no way I have time to squeeze in watching the sunset or tasting my food or slowing my pace on a walk to notice the flowers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been in therapy (or been on the Internet), you\u2019ve likely heard about the grounding exercise where you name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste as a way of being grounded in your body. I love my therapist with all my heart, but when she suggests that I ground myself in the moment or my body, I feel annoyed and reticent. It\u2019s so much easier to exist in the world of my brain, where I can focus on intellectualizing my feelings as opposed to feeling them. She frequently gives me \u201chomework\u201d (which you know is my dream, I love a gold star and an assignment!) to pay attention to what I feel in my body and notice the world around me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, she\u2019s right (she always is!) \u2014 using my senses helps me feel calmer, but it also helps me access joy. My day is made immeasurably better when I step into my backyard and check on the flowers blooming in my yard, or appreciate the smell of my toast, or listen to a song I love and truly hear it (and sing along loudly).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is a busy time of year, and it\u2019s tempting to rush, rush, rush through the end of the school year and all the demands on our time before summer slows down, but I\u2019m challenging myself, and you, by way of this post, to spend some time noticing the world around you, and finding some joy in it. Can you savor your coffee? Stay a few minutes more for coffee with a friend (and really taste your latte?) and notice the ease that comes when you get to laugh together? Check out the flowers in your neighborhood? Pay attention to how soft your dogs\u2019 ears are? I promise, those little microdoses of joy are worth it every time. Sending you love and a few moments to pay attention this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 Speaking of therapists, <\/span>they\u2019re feeling it too<\/a><\/strong>. By \u201cit\u201d I mean the weight of the world. (Bustle)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong> \u00a0How to nurture and grow a personal library.<\/a><\/strong> I love the idea of a personal library as an autobiography. (Psyche)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 As a committed lover of summer, I take great delight in delivering my best recommendations for summer clothes, makeup, and sundries. <\/span>Here are this year\u2019s<\/a>. I made one last year, too<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> if you\u2019re so inclined. (Substack)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 I cannot recommend <\/span>PACT\u2019s Weekender Airplane sets if you\u2019re traveling this summer enough<\/a><\/strong>. I wore one on my long flight to Edinburgh, and it was so comfortable. I tend to feel haggard and frumpy on flights, and this look made me feel chic and put together. They\u2019ve got <\/span>a shorts version now<\/a><\/strong>, and while I typically eschew shorts on an airplane, this might change my mind, though I suspect that I would wear this set everywhere. (WearPact)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0<\/strong>A good life is inconvenient<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. I\u2019m still obsessing over the idea of how life being less convenient might be the way. (Substack)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you listened to Amy Poehler\u2019s podcast, Good Hang? <\/span>This week\u2019s episode with Michelle Obama was an absolute delight<\/a><\/strong>. I also recommend the episodes with Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Tina Fey, Martin Short, and Rashida Jones. You know what? Just listen to all of them. (Spotify)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s ice cream season, and I love <\/span>Joy\u2019s recipe<\/a><\/strong> for coffee ice cream (with cookie crumbles, because obviously) without an ice cream maker. Easy and truly delicious. (Joy The Baker)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0<\/strong>How to Use Exercise As Part of Your Mental Health Toolbox<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. I find it deeply annoying (and <\/span>helpful<\/span><\/i>) that exercise makes such a difference in my well-being. Here are ways to use exercise to help your mental well-being \u2014 safely. (Women\u2019s Health)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0Speaking of exercise, here are the best walking shoes for women according to podiatrists.<\/a><\/strong> (Glamour)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0<\/strong>Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy<\/strong>?<\/span><\/a> Oof. As a teacher, I am well aware that many, many kids are miserable, but this article illuminates some of the reasons why. (The Atlantic Gift Link)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0<\/strong> I love lemon-flavored desserts, and lemon bars are one of my favorite things to make and eat. <\/span>This recipe is my favorite one to use<\/a><\/strong>. (Joy The Baker)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 I love greek flavors and any bowl situation. Excited to give <\/span>this Greek Meatball Bowl<\/strong><\/span><\/a> recipe a try. (Food and Wine)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022 \u00a0<\/strong>The Two Choices That Keep a Midlife Crisis at Bay<\/strong><\/span><\/a>: As I move through my 40s, I don\u2019t necessarily feel a <\/span>crisis<\/span><\/i> coming on, but I am doing a lot of reflecting on my life and choices. I loved this article about keeping the crisis aspect at bay. (The Atlantic Gift Link)<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0 During the summer, I like to walk as much as I can, but I hate being loaded down with a purse. I\u2019m newly-obsessed with my <\/span>Lululemon Dual-Pouch wristlet<\/a><\/strong> that is big enough to hold my phone, some cards, lip gloss, AirPods\u2026anything I need. I also love <\/span>this hat<\/strong><\/span><\/a> because it has room for my ponytail and blocks the sun! (Lululemon)<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/spcdn.shortpixel.ai\/spio\/ret_img,q_orig,to_webp,s_webp\/joythebaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Amy-headshot-230x230.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/spcdn.shortpixel.ai\/spio\/ret_img,q_orig,to_webp,s_webp\/joythebaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Amy-headshot-230x230.jpg\")
Summer is approaching, and as a solar-powered human, I couldn\u2019t be happier. The air smells of jasmine<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> This weekend, I got to eat a perfect fresh strawberry my brother grew in his garden, and in the mornings, I\u2019m awakened by birds chirping outside my window. We had our first 89-degree day last week. I was overheated all day, but I didn\u2019t mind because I know that in just a few weeks, I\u2019ll find 80-degree temperatures to be a refreshing respite from the heat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n