Have you lost your joy? Day 7

Speech shifts to ‘used to’ and ‘should’. Listen to the grammar. ‘I used to paint.’ ‘I should get back to walking.’ The past gets full-color; the future reads like an obligation. ‘Used to’ can be a love letter, but it can also be a locked door.

After a long winter, my book club friend Elaine kept saying, ‘I used to love watercolors.’ I brought her a five0dollar set and cheap paper. We weren’t solving a crisis; we were cracking a door. We spent an afternoon making blotchy cheerful mistakes. The next week, she bought letter brushes. ‘Used to’ turned into ‘I did some yesterday.’

If this is you: honor the ‘used to’ by giving it twenty minutes this weekl. Not a grand return-just a visit. Shoulds cannot revive youl small actions can.