Tag: birthday

54 Joys

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Over the past year, I have made it a practice to find sparks of joy in each day. Even on the bad days, there’s at least one thing good that I experienced, felt, or encountered. In honor of my 54th birthday today, I made a list of 54 things that bring me joy instead of ruminating about my current health status

  1. Finding a 4-leafer hiding in a clover patch
  2. The electricity inside Yankee Stadium, especially following a win
  3. Watermelon anything
  4. Discovering a beautiful sea shell or piece of sea glass on the beach
  5. An early morning bird song
  6. Searching for rainbows after sun showers
  7. Unexpected and short-lived snow squalls
  8. Laughter coming from my nieces and nephews, and just being with them
  9. Dawn’s colors transforming from muted to explosions and the sun as it just peeks from under the horizon to start the day
  10. The exhilaration of riding a new or favorite roller coaster
  11. The aroma of the ocean overlaid with tanning lotion and funnel cakes
  12. Amusement parks and boardwalks
  13. A Grand Slam, regardless of who hit it, and when a baseball player hits for the cycle
  14. Star Wars, Avengers, and Boba Fett
  15. My toes digging in the sand as the ocean lightly laps around my ankles
  16. The first snow flurries of the season as they dance down from the clouds
  17. Yoga and meditation
  18. Getting in the flow when I am writing and losing all sense of time
  19. Coloring with crayons and colored pencils
  20. Pins, especially from places I visit
  21. A Kohr’s chocolate or orange twist ice cream cone
  22. Daily texts from my brother
  23. Popcorn
  24. Little bits-and-bobs and toys
  25. Teal, turquoise, and aqua blue
  26. Watching butterflies and hummingbirds drinking the nectar from flowers I grew from seed
  27. Stickers
  28. Connecting with others in person and/or through my words
  29. Going on adventures with treasured people
  30. Being totally stupid and laughing at utter nonsense with my oldest friends
  31. Hearing the spring peepers after a long winter
  32. Clean sheets
  33. Serendipitous encounters that lead me down a new path or provide me with insight
  34. Finding a feather, especially one from a Blue Jay
  35. Happy faces – I find them hiding everywhere!
  36. The voices of Robert Smith, Anthony Keidis, and Dave Grohl
  37. Fireworks exploding in the night sky
  38. Exploring someplace new or someplace familiar with different eyes 
  39. Watching the boats come and go down at the Inlet, especially the race boats
  40. A perfectly ripe and juicy nectarine
  41. Connecting with like-minded people
  42. Rereading “The Outsiders” for the billionth time
  43. The smell right after a springtime rain shower
  44. Crinkle cut french fries
  45. Seinfeld references
  46. Sunflowers
  47. Many Eddie Murphy movies and Ghostbusters (1 and 2)
  48. Narwhals
  49. Notebooks and sticky notes
  50. Jersey tomatoes and Jersey corn
  51. When the underdog wins
  52. The aroma of coconut
  53. Writing with sparkly, glitter, and metallic ink pens
  54. Shining my light to kindle the light in others

Become a joy seeker like me and notice the joy in your own life. I promise your days will become more enjoyable and you will feel more grounded. And let your light shine and kindle the light in others.

My next post will contain updates about my stem cell transplant recovery. Spoiler alert: I’m doing fine with only a few hiccups.

Thank you for joining me on my journey. I’m so glad you are here.

With light and love,

Jill

“54 Joys” was posted on jillocone.com on February 12, 2025. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not endorsed or compensated in any manner by any entity; views do not represent any of my employers. Copyright 2025, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact Jill with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries using any of the links below.

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Heavy

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The pressure,

It cripples 

My shoulders.

The anguish,

It crushes

My heart.

The long dormant

Scars that are

Too deep to

Scratch

Fire and 

Itch something

Fierce.

.

I’m fourteen

Again, 

With the 

Formidable

Red dread 

In my head

Reawakened…

The Day After.

Summertime boycotts.

Shall

We

Play

A

Game.

Creed’s loss.

Drago’s victory.

Wolverines become 

Targets of

Helicopter ambushes 

While we

Devour the

Juiciest 

Red apples and

Pray for 

Happily ever

After and

Peace.

.

Same as it ever was.

.

But this time,

Though,

It’s heavier,

With iron-clad threads 

Of clamoring dissonance

And pandemic fatigue

And the injustice of justice

Interwoven with

Humanity’s

Frayed strings

And compassion’s

Colorless fibers.

.

But this time,

Though,

It’s for real. 

The bombs

And the tanks

Purposely target

The beings 

Whose only crime

Is an address

On a certain street

In a certain country. 

The missiles

Pierce the heavens

As the bullets

Pierce the skin

And the screams

Pierce the silence,

The lives of

The innocents

No consequence to

Him

Who values

Authority 

And 

Avarice

Above 

All and

Lives his

Happily ever

After no

Peace.

The Ukrainian/Galician/Balkan heritage in my lineage and in my soul called me to write “Heavy.” I stand with my ancestral brothers and sisters wherever their feet may touch the Earth but especially those in Ukraine.

Thank you for joining me on my journey. I’m glad you’re here.

With love and gratitude,

Jill

“Heavy” was posted on jillocone.com on February 26, 2022. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not endorsed or compensated in any manner by any entity; views do not represent any employer. Copyright 2022, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact jillocone@gmail.com with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries.

Day of Birth

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The sun rises on the first day of my 51st orbit around the sun. I ponder the footsteps that led me to standing alongside the massive ocean in this moment, but my path in the sand behind me has disappeared. I pause here, joy-fully scarred and strong with her waves rushing over my feet, and bask in the light that shines from within me. It unifies with the sun’s rays and radiates in all directions a message too massive to fully comprehend.

Here I am, teeming with light and life, a magnificent creature of Water and Earth and Air and Fire, a child of the Universe. Blissful delight overwhelms me, and I allow the sea’s breeze to dry the tears in the corners of my eyes.

The tide recedes with each of her salt water molecules swelled full of gratitude for my beautifully flawed body, for my lungs and my heart, for my soul and my mind, and for my journey to this moment.

After the sun sets on the day, I lie my head on my pillow with a slight smile and close my eyes, content and full of hope.

The sea, her tide rises in rhythm with the sun on the next glorious morning, a morning when I awake once again reborn. In my morning prayer, I ask my body to continue sustaining me, my soul to continue sparking my light, my mind to continue enlightening me, and the universe to continue illuminating the path I’m meant to follow.

I inhale peace and purpose, exhale gratitude for another day of life, and embrace the possibilities of the unknown. I stretch my arms and my legs, then rise to my feet and take my first steps along today’s extraordinary adventure.

Thank you for joining me on my journey. I’m glad you’re here.

With love and gratitude,

Jill

“Day of Birth” was posted on jillocone.com on February 13, 2022. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not endorsed or compensated in any manner by any entity; views do not represent any employer. Copyright 2022, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact jillocone@gmail.com with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries.