The Wonder Catalyst

As I was taking a winter morning walk this morning, I stumbled upon a beautiful bush with the most radiant red blooms. My mind shifted for a split second, and I planted my nose right on the soft red petals to take in the fragrance it was projecting. My sniff was lingering, and I found myself saying “ahh”. It was refreshing. It was my glimmer for the morning. How many of you have had a glimmer today? Glimmers are everywhere, we just choose to ignore them. As we round out our year, muddling through the constant triggers that are found through a chaotic holiday season, I challenge myself (and hopefully you) to implement 5 Ways to Find Glimmers in Life.

Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. Glimmers are tender moments when, in spite of everything, the universe shows us moments of grace and beauty. Life’s most profound moments often come in whispers, not shouts. Think about the last time something snapped you so fully into the present moment that you paused to smile. Maybe your favorite song came on the radio, or the moon was full and huge, or you had an ice cream cone. These moments inspire a micro moment of joy.

Allowing yourself a brief moment of happiness that allows your nervous system to feel safe and calm can bring you from sadness to a feeling of joy. While triggers move our body into fight-or-flight, glimmers are environmental cues that move our body into a state of rest. Seeking out things that give you the “warm fuzzies”. They may not be a ‘big’ thing, but they help us feel connected and secure. Who doesn’t enjoy a warm hug?

Why is finding glimmers such a great habit to have mastered? Glimmers help activate the parasympathetic relaxation response. This can lower stress hormones, heart rate, and blood pressure. Finding glimmers is good for your physical health, not just mental. Noticing glimmers helps you stay present and grounded, which regulates the nervous system and, in turn, reduces anxiety and stress. They connect you to one or more of your senses when you see a pretty flower, smell a new, fantastic candle, or cuddle with a fuzzy pet. These micro-moments of goodness help our bodies discharge the buildup of cortisol from previously stressful situations, so we can return to a calm state where we also feel included. Encouraging yourself to tune into all the amazing things that are already around.

Staying mindful of glimmers also sets you on a positive path for improving your mindset. Positivity grows. It propels your mindset, which will find its way into feeling happy. Experiencing negativity, when we’re not careful, can snowball, like when we’re going through a tough time and we snap at a coworker or a loved one, which only fosters more suffering. One of the best parts about looking for glimmers? It’s super accessible. Anyone can look for glimmers, and the concept stays respectful of trauma survivors and their grief—both glimmers and grief exist in this life, and even in a single day. Working with glimmers still leaves room for the full scope of human emotions and experiences.

“When we pay attention to the glimmers of sunshine in our life, the dark clouds don’t seem as daunting.” – Morgan DeLeo.

5 Ways to Find Glimmers

1. Practice Mindfulness – Glimmers live in the present. If you’re spending most of your days focusing on the past or future, you won’t be able to spot all the good around you. Start your day with mindfulness and then take time to reset throughout the day with deep breathing or any other grounding activity that helps you be present to the glimmers around you. Set an intention. Start by identifying one glimmer per day. Give yourself a small goal you can accomplish and then build from there. If that works well, maybe you can bump it up to three.

2. Start a Glimmer Journal – Brainstorm some of your favorite glimmers. Ask yourself: What gives you a sense of hope?” What brings moments of delight? What helps you feel comfortable with yourself? What offers a feeling of being grounded or present? Keep this journal prompt idea going in December and into 2024.

3. Seek out Unique Glimmers – Go on a walk, ride a bike, or take a non-planned road trip. Examples of this would be the sound of rain, a cat purring, damp springy moss, shiny bubbles, new leaves growing on plants, watching fish, and rainbows, spotting a planet in the night or dawn sky, the beautiful scent of cooking or nature, a butterfly flying into my garden, discovering beautiful art, or even the texture of trees.

4. Go on Glimmer Expeditions – Schedule awe walks – even in urban settings too—I do them in bookstores and libraries at times! Using a camera is a good way to focus your mind, and then if you choose to share photos online (like my photo of the blooming bush in this blog post), it becomes a way of reflecting and a gratitude journal. This makes it feel like the HIIT version of glimmers, where the effects last for a long time, and can easily be reawakened.

5. Tune Into Your Five Senses – When you do come across a glimmer in your day, allow yourself to stop and take it in. Tune into your 5 senses to explore all that you are experiencing in the moment. Acknowledge why it feels good to you and what’s happening in your body. Ironically, many of us have a hard time staying inside the good feelings, because we know they will pass, or maybe we feel guilty if it’s happening during a hard time for others or in the world. Trust that it’s okay, and even necessary, for you to soak up all the goodness you can from each small experience. they will pass or maybe we feel guilty if it’s happening during a hard time for others or in the world. Trust that it’s okay, and even necessary, for you to soak up all the goodness you can from each small experience.