Jenn McKinlay: I was recently doom scrolling through social media, as you do, when a post popped up about whimsy. Y’all, it was delightful. The OP (original poster) shared what little bits of whimsy filled her day and invited other readers to chime in to share their daily whimsical moments as well. It was a delightful antidote to the winter doldrums I was having at the moment, so now I share with you (my fave was the tiara, which informs me that I need to go find mine).
Some of the whimsical things were…
- ”I wear a “lock in tiara” whenever I have to lock in on a difficult task.”
- ”I say “it’s bath time” when I’m about to do the dishes.
- "I wear matching pajamas every time I change my sheets so I can have what I call fancy sleep."
- "I hold 'office hours' every Tuesday at a local coffee shop, which means I sit on the couch and order drinks for 4-5 hours while various friends and acquaintances visit me to yap about books and gossip."
- "I say, 'my lady,' every time I walk by a mirror."
- "I teach the dog how to do things either to make them more interesting for me ('Let me show you how to start a load of laundry') or just to make him feel included ('Do you remember how to make coffee or should I walk you through it again? I know it's hard to remember since you can't practice without thumbs.')"
- "I kiss my cat on both cheeks then she kisses me on both cheeks then I explain 'she's European' to no one."
- "I sleep in vintage nightgowns, it makes me feel like an 1800s princess✨"
- "I hot glued a bow tie onto the Roomba and we call him Jeffrey."
- "I say, 'May I take your coats?' when I'm peeling garlic."
My personal whimsies are to tell the dogs “we’re going on an adventure” instead of a walk. I give pep talks to my plants in the garden - “oh, look at you , growing overnight” etc.
And when the hooligans were little, the whimsy was usually over the top. I convinced them that packages at the post office had wings put on them and were launched to fly to their destination. They spent a lot of time scanning the sky for boxes.
But my favorite was the koi pond at the Phoenix Zoo. I convinced them the fish were “wish fish” so we would stop by every week, pick out a fish, and tell it our wish. I stumbled upon a koi pond last week in CT and naturally had to make a wish. I’ll share the video here, so you can pick a fish and make a wish, too. ♥️
And now you, Reds and Readers, what silly whimsical things do you do to bring cheer to your days?
