Winter solstice thoughts on four things that bring me happiness

Stationery: the easy flow from a new pen, fresh pages of a notebook, the vivid hues of sharp pencils, shops filled with paper stock, nifty gadgets, and organisers. Art supplies. Gorgeous stuff for stuffing about creating more stuff.

Colour and movement. Simply put shiny things make me happy. The green-golden iridescence of Christmas beetles in summer, the bioluminescence of some fungi, fireflies, sea creatures and plants, sunlight through crystals and stained glass windows, flowers (despite allergies). Any interplay of light and shadow. Pearlescent fish scales, close up photographs of eye colours, the famously changing hues of a certain Australian volcanic lake. Astronomical images comprised of different kinds of measurements of distant galaxies that look like brain scans, but show us the most detailed and colourful view of the universe (so far). And of course, art!

Rain: the way it’s arrival calms and cleanses. The patter of rain on surfaces; the pattern of drops on the ground; the way a storm envelopes me in sound; the way hail bounces; reflections in puddles; soft rain in afternoon sunlight, cold rain chilling my skin; dew on spiderwebs. And, petrichor, of course.

Tools that work: the quiet satisfaction of using something that functions as it should for as long as possible to successfully complete a task. It doesn’t matter if it’s a scrubbing brush, an app, a gardening implement or my favourite paring knife, if it works I’m happy. I recall the comforting familiarity of the family refrigerator, something perhaps General Electric from the 1970s (or earlier), inherited by my dad and which remained functional essentially, forever.

The 2023 writing update:

• Rejections: 40
• Pending: 22
• Accepted (3 carried over from 2022): 11
• Published: 11