finding tiny joy
Today, I felt a little burst of tiny, creative, energetic joy as I raced downstairs at my office to place a sticky note by our resident plastic lizard.
A couple of the girls who work on the first floor of our building found a small, green, plastic toy lizard and have been leaving it interesting places for coworkers to find.
By the sign-in sheet.
In the freezer.
On top the water dispenser.
At the bottom of the stair banister.
When I finally caught on to the nomad lizard prank, I decided to give our lizard friend a voice and let him start speaking to everyone, sharing Very Important Messages.
I wrote a mini sticky note to place by his mini body.
And I told the ladies downstairs I would replace it with a new message every time they move him.
My first sticky note just said “HOWDY!” (He looked like a Western lizard, okay?)
Then this morning, I saw they’ve moved our lizard pal to the top of the break room microwave.
They moved the Howdy Note with him, but that just won’t do… time for the lizard to speak again!
I went to my office to craft his newest sticky note.
Came back and left it by the artificial reptile.
“You are doing a great job! :)”
Very pleased with my efforts.
Tiny joy.
I placed his little lizard foot on the note. So people know: he has something important to tell them, and they can rest assured in the confidence and honesty with which he speaks.
This is a dumb and clever little office antic, seemingly innocent and unimportant… but the little joys are always important.
Even if it’s a very small moment of creative output or goofy noticing, something beautiful to witness, a magic surprise, a clump of miniscule flowers, the view of the mountain peaks with their trees dusted in snow, the blue sky and ginormous puff ball clouds, the sound of a baby giggling, a small way you can get out of your ordinary routine or add a little pizzazz, some manifestation of imagination… a tiny little encouraging, Western, plastic lizard…
Don’t forget to pay attention.
What tiny joys have you noticed lately?
Does this season of your life seem full to the brim with them, or are you trying really hard to catch on to just one or two each day?
Either way, they matter.
Next challenge: can you create a tiny joy for someone else? That might just help you too.
I have no idea if anyone else in my office finds my Lizard Memos half as entertaining or awesome as I do. Maybe nobody notices or just thinks they’re lame or a waste of time in a corporate setting…
But I like to imagine that little lizard catching somebody’s eye, and his Very Important Message bringing a smile, a laugh, or a bit of happy lightness, whatever the rest of their work day looks like.
Can you do that for someone around you?
Can you do that for yourself? (If nothing else, Western Lizard and my silly contributions to his nomadic antics have brought ME a little play and fun today, so that’s worth it! And it’s like a small secret office initiative I share with the two girls moving the lizard around, so that’s fun!)
Have a great day. The Lizard wants you to know you’re doing a great job!
