Happy May, everyone! It truly feels like spring is here in Cle Elum, as the (arguably) gale force winds that arrive every spring are here with gusto today.
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, which is an important topic. We are pretty candid on this blog and have written about compassion fatigue and burnout, which are frequent experiences for those in care fields. We’ve also written about compassion satisfaction, a counterweight to fatigue and burnout. Like Kelsi wrote in her blog on compassion satisfaction, it’s all about finding moments that remind us of our why- why we’re here doing what we do, despite the tough moments. The last year has been hard on all of us, with the grief of Jody and Nutmeg’s passing omnipresent, and it’s been important for me to remember that joy and sadness are not mutually exclusive. That they can coexist in the same moments.
To honor National Mental Health Awareness Month, I thought I would share a list of things that bring me joy and compassion satisfaction here that happen almost every day. It’s a list I started keeping in my phone to look at when I feel overwhelmed. It’s not the big stuff, it’s the little moments- the ones that happen almost daily.
(Disclaimer: This list is not entirely comprehensive and all chimp-human contact is protected. Click here for more details.)
- Going in to say hi to the chimps in the morning and being immediately greeted with excited breathy pants
- Foxie asking me to babysit her baby dolls while she takes some time for herself
- Terry kisses (especially when he sticks his tongue out and just kind of licks the back of my hand)
- Watching the chimps enjoy the sunshine
- Serving a meal item that the chimps find super exciting (corn, baked sweet potatoes, apples…) and hearing Mave and Burrito’s high-pitched excited food squeaks. All food grunts are joy-inducing sounds, but those two jump the octave and really just make you grin
- Annie’s bird noises
- Cy with his magazines
- Walks around Young’s Hill with Jamie
- Games of chase with Burrito
- Grooming with Lucky
- The way Gordo gently sets down his smoothie cup instead of tossing it to the floor
- The way Gordo will find even the smallest piece of paper to sit on in the greenhouses for breakfast, instead of sitting directly on the cool ground
- How the group of 9 will watch us prep meds in the morning from the front rooms with the clinic door open… It’s just nice.
- How Jamie, Foxie, Burrito, Gordo, Cy, Dora, and Honey B hold their smoothie cups during breakfast
- Terry’s incessant raspberry sounds
- Looking up to the corner of the playroom to see Negra cozy in a nest that looks like it’s as thick as four mattresses.
- When the chimps decide they do or don’t want something (i.e. if Foxie decides not to give us the greenhouse for cleaning- we’ll get it the next day, but I love the moments where the chimps choose how the day goes)
- How Jamie will save her chow and put it in a cup to let it soak in water before she eats it.
- The noises Willy B makes when he wants us to set up our phones for him to watch YouTube while we clean.
- How Missy will tight-rope walk across the firehose in the playroom at dinner to grab her food
- When the chimps take food with their feet. 🙂
- The little happy toe rubs that the chimps do during meals
- Rayne sitting in boxes, all day, every day, no matter the size of said box
Some photos of these moments:
Foxie enjoying a walk on Young’s Hill after giving me her baby to watch.
Gordo + pear + foot
Terry, giving one of his morning kisses
Cy enjoying a magazine (and a coconut)
Oh, Grace, you’ve made babysitter status already! Oh to be graced with the honor!
I think I am going to follow your lead and create my own little list of things that bring me joy. It is the small things, the simple everyday moments that can be the most meaningful. We shouldn’t overlook or take these moments for granted. I am amazed at all the joyful things (truly exceptional and unique things!) you have on your list. I bet most people would be happy to be able to list half that many things.
Grace, you are so fortunate! The next time have you any doubt about the richness of your life experiences, look no further than your phone (this includes your personal list and your thousands of phots!).
Lovely list, Grace, thanks! Mine starts like this: right after getting up checking new blog posts on CSNW website :monkey_face:
What a wonderful list. It’s the little things that often bring the most beauty.
“That’s the way of life, isn’t it? In between periods of sadness, there is frivolity, joy, and happiness. The sadness too is merely a different reflection of the love and compassion we hold.”
Can’t remember where I copied this from, but at the time I was important to me. Thank you for sharing your joyful moments.
Grace, somehow I missed reading yesterday’s blog until just now. Everything you listed as giving you joy gave me an abundance of joy just reading about them. What a privilege it is for you to witness these these acts. Thank you for sharing.