I’m visiting in St. Augustine, Florida this week and was walking the beach yesterday morning. I was surprised there weren’t many shells when I happened on five beautiful razor clams. They looked like potential flags on a sandcastle and I carefully gathered them up.

Once I found the five razor clams, my walk shifted from random to focused, and my eyes moved from seeing very little to seeing patterns, colors, and textures. I ended up collecting dozens of razor clams along with a few olives, a couple of cat’s eyes, some pink barnacles, and even a beached, nearly complete purple and orange sea star.

This is going to be a spectacular sandcastle 🙂

Sometimes joy descends on us like razor clams and all we have to do is stop and gather. Other times, joy is oddly elusive – like a faint star that you can only see if you look at it indirectly. The trick for me is to be open and to grab hold of joy wherever I find it and then look for more in the same place.

• So what’s joyous in your life?
• What really gets you charged up and smiling?
• Is there a pattern and can you find more of that?
• If you’re lacking in the joy department, can you give yourself the gift of time to get out there and see what you can find?

It’s cool to live your life with intent, to have a plan, and to make things happen. But if your intent and plans don’t bring you joy, remember that there are treasures everywhere. Maybe it’s time to take a walk.

Cheers from a much-warmer-than-Maine beach.

Want to see other posts on this blog? There’s a small link below to the left that will take you to the most recent post. Or check out the column on the right to see what other folks are reading. Please try the “search” box at the top of the page if you’re looking for something specific.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for future posts!