We are lucky to have a special guest this episode best selling author, Cyndie Spiegel to talk about her new book Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life is Not Okay (out 2/28/23) was born in 2020, an awful year for most that was especially awful for Cyndie. She lost her mother to cancer. Her nephew was murdered. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. Loss and grief came at her in crashing waves, and she found it nearly impossible to surface except in small moments that she began to call "microjoys" -- little bits of beauty or humor or unexpected light amidst the darkness. In Microjoys, Cyndie shares 50 mini-essays about these small moments that helped her move through the most difficult days of her life. Moments like: flipping through recipe cards written in her late mother's handwriting. Embracing her status as the Weird Lawn Chair Person™ of her neighborhood. Wearing a dress covered in 15 pounds of sequins... just because. Feeling good about someone else's good news ("freudenfreude" - the less-sexy-but-still-essential twin of schadenfreude.) By sharing the microjoys in her life, Cyndie invites us all-- in whatever circumstances we're in -- to slow down, to notice what is in front of us, and to be kind to ourselves. In fact, noticing these microjoys can be a form of self-care and mental health maintenance: a way to bear life's heaviness and stresses a little more easily, for a short time.

Microjoys book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/microjoys-finding-hope-especially-when-life-is-not-okay-cyndie-spiegel/18539922

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