This week’s #BlogSmallJoys submission come from the wonderful Stacey, of Oliver’s Garden Project. I love this entry, because it really demonstrates how much we can change our points of view by recognizing the small joys in life. I love seeing all her photos on Instagram! Don’t forget to submit your own story about finding and appreciating life’s small joys. Just email me at alexandriawrites@gmail.com.

Stacey is a wife, a mother of two groovy kids, a cook by trade, a wanna be story teller,  a not for profit volunteer and I’m the chief overseer of our community project which grows veggies and sells them in order to donate the funds back to at risk youth in our community started by our son and daughter in 2011 called Oliver’s Garden Project  as well as my husband, Calum’s PR and Marketing Manager of his small creative artisanal business Calum Cillis Design’s and last but not least I am a Hamilton Cheerleader! Oliver’s Garden Project is on Facebook and Twitter, too! Be sure to check them all out.

Day 317:  Hard to believe, 316 days have passed since I started my #365grateful photo project. I was just mucking around on the interwebs per usual when I came across the hashtag on Instagram, I had to investigate further especially after learning how the project came about.

You see, I live with anxiety and depression and try very much to go day to day with my shoulders back and chin up. We are trying to instill in our two kids that positive thinking and to help where you can are our Golden Rules, so I better buck up!

Being an admirer from afar of photography, and enjoying the use of my own iPhone camera, I thought, why not? I can commit to taking one picture a day, I do already, sometimes too many for my storage capabilities … this shouldn’t be too hard? I certainly couldn’t give up after taking the first photo, so I continued, day 10, then day 35, then it was day 110!

Well, at first it was going through the day ‘trying’ to find an item, a scene, something worthy of photographing… I soon found out that my perspective started shifting and I was finding beauty all around me, in many different forms that I was and am grateful for. It has allowed me to slow down and absorb what I am surrounded by on a daily. My kids, ages 10 and 8 and my husband give me a lot to be grateful for, but so does my walk to work, visits with family, our dog, a surprise in nature, our veggie garden, seeing friends, a special occasion, a meal, our health and my community… It was the small joys that really put things in perspective. This personal project has enlightened me and my soul and for that I will be #365grateful.

I look forward to those things everyday and can’t imagine not finding them!