Store Your Happy Memories Here:

[Croix]

Dear All~

What this place is for:
This thread is a tool, a resource, and also I guess a dash of entertainment.

I’ve found that when life is grim that sometimes thoughts of past happiness can create a chink of light in the grey overwhelming press of down. They can help occupy the mind with lighter reflections.

With that in view I invite people to set down a brief passage describing some happy event they look back to with fondness and peace.

They - and others too - can then return to it when they feel the need to glean a little warmth.

It is not a place for gloomy or dire tales, those can go elsewhere.

What to do:
Just set out, as simply as you like, your recollection of some past experience that means something good to you, something you enjoyed, something from safe times.

It can be, like my story below, anything – from an account of visiting grandparents to simply cooking and eating a melted-cheese sandwich in a favorite kitchen – you get to choose.

How to do it:
Write. Write enough so someone else can feel the mood, know what happened, find the goodness. (stop at 2,500 characters please!)

Grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation are not compulsory, just write as you can – the only important thing is the content - not literary merit. Short or long - it does not matter.


I hope you enjoy, contribute and find a little distraction here when you need it.

Croix

[Quercus]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for the lovely memories you shared.

Mr Croix I'm sorry to hear you're struggling... I wonder if you could use the word prompt idea we tried quite a while ago to focus on positive memories?

The word that makes me happy today is colours.

I remember...

Red gravel underfoot. Patches of blue flowers spreading as far as I can see. And a little girl with a stripy pink and purple sunhat crouching to peer at the flowers. She is proud as punch at being able to pronounce the name Leschenaultia.

Two little kids standing on a beachside wall. Blue sky. White sand. Wind is blowing. Arms outstretched. Two massive streamers of rainbow ribbon fly and spin and twirl behind them as they walk along the wall.

I hope this works for you Croix.

Moon it's ok if this kind of visualisation doesn't work for you. We're all different.

❤nat

[Doolhof]

Hi Everyone,

Moon, sometimes I sit here for a while with a very blank mind trying to recall something that is happy! I do understand what you were writing regarding "happy" memories making you feel sad. It is such a paradox!

I am going to try Nat's suggestion with the word colour.

Pale Pink - the early morning glow of colour appearing in the sky, ushering in a new day. The warm glow adding a feeling of hope and peace.

A riot of colour - riding a highly decorated camel in India, feeling like a princess!

Yellow - the buds on my rose planted in memory of a very dear friend, brings a smile to my face as I think of her.

Black, yellow and white- the colour of little birds flitting in and out of the birdbath chirping away in frenzy of flapping wings with water flying everywhere, makes me laugh.

Special greetings to you Croix!

Cheers all from Dools

[PamelaR]

Hello all and very special greetings to the walrus.

Mention of Wales and rain brings back lovely memories of St David's hostel near the Surf Living Saving Boat yard, Aberystwyth ex school hostel and blocked chimney. The blocked chimney was a huge laugh as we tried to unblock it. Soot throughout the kitchen and lounge, all over the meal we'd just cooked. Then there was the 3 km walk up a mountain with our backpacks LOL. But we did it. 3km maybe exaggerating, but I think it felt like it.

Sorry to hear you're not doing so well Croix.

Kind regards

PamelaR

[Moonstruck]

if you're reading this here Croix...(thanks for posting on my thread etc..you know what I mean..you always know what I mean, you're cleverer than you look!!)

I am referring to Wales. I've never been there, but I do recall a brief but satisfying connection with Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas.....thats about the closest I've ever come to anything Welsh I believe.............

[Croix]

Dear All~

It is amazing to get such kind thoughts, it is a real boost, lets me know I'm not alone and also that there are others to look to.

Moon: ALL walruses are cleverer than they look (just as well) - you should know that! As for Under Milkwood, yes I can identify, For some reason Mrs. Dai Bread the second comes to mind. Even more with A Child's Christmas In Wales.

"after dinner the Uncles sat in front of the fire, loosened all buttons, put their large moist hands over their watch chains, groaned a little and slept. Mothers, aunts and sisters scuttled to and fro"

PamelaR: I remember Aberystwyth too, with I think a long shingle beach, one could go from there to Mt Snowdon, though ascending was easier by the little railway. A world of promenade guest-houses and polished brass front steps.

Mrs Dools: Despite hardships you have an amazing mind (I'm sure at times you might not agree), I think the word resilience was invented especially for you. Humor is a wonderful thing, even wry humor in the face of adversity. I do think a smile works in two directions, you plaster one on even when not feeling like it and it tends to seep inside a little. Your words always encourage no matter what.

Birdy: The cave I remember was the one on a lake in NZ, where in a little boat one drifted inside to see the festoons of glow-worms like Christmas lights in the dark. One would not believe there were such wonders in the world.

Natalie: A colour? Well OK, a sheeny metallic copper colour. In fact it was a marine product for painting the hulls of boats. Our first house was small, and we could not afford wallpaper, however I got a roller with a raised pattern on it, and rolling the colour over white paint was just as good.We were quite proud of our living room.

Croix (who is a sensible grey colour like all walruses)

[ScarlettR]

Gold Coast vacations: I travel to the Gold Coast often, at least once every year. My happiest memories are:

2014 - I was driving pass Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, and had my MP3 Player on, listening to Michael Jackson's "A Place With No Name". Something about the song and the area I was in - the sun, the palm trees, the clear air, the breeze, the close distance to the beach, less people walking on the streets - was a happy time in an otherwise depressing year.

2017 - in another trip I took with the Gold Coast, I travelled with my sister. We had planned that I would wash the dishes in the holiday resort, between 7-9pm every night. The kitchen and the living room was in the same space, so I had the TV on while I was washing dishes - the evening news and Home And Away. I recall washing the dishes with dishwashing liquid I purchased from Coles at Surfer's Paradise - at the sink was a window that showed Queensland mountains in the distance. Sunset was slow and did not complete till about 8:30pm, so I enjoyed looking out into salmon-pink tinged skies and fresh air.

[Croix]

Dear ScarlettR~

I'm glad you are able to find pockets of happiness with music and the sunset on the Queensland ranges. Doing household chores can leave a feeling of stability.

Music has changed for me since joining this Forum, everything from Tom Waits to Amy Winehouse, before I was very rigid in my tastes, being confined to classical and 60's rock.

I hope those pockets do join up

Croix

[Moonstruck]

Hey Croix....do you remember Lily Smalls? I had forgotten all about Dai Bread until you mentioned it....Lily is the only name I remember (guess why...hahah)

[Quercus]

Hi Croix,

I thought of this thread very early this morning driving to work. You mention music and that is exactly what brought this memory to mind....

Everything is dark. Sunrise is still 2 hours away. The road is empty. Not a single fox or kangaroo or rabbit even to be seen.

The sound of Jon Bellion (of course!) fills the car. Set to random. A new memory for every well loved song. Always happy memories.

Even in the dark I can see the memory of light from the stained glass window making his white tie a rainbow of colours.

I laugh remembering how we had worried that our priest wouldn't be able to pronounce his name but on the day it was my easy name that proved challenging.

Turn up the music and I remember how serious he looked. Reached for my hand. Our priest went to tell us we could take each others hands and the church filled with quiet chuckles. One raised eyebrow tells us we missed our cue.

Something as simple as a song brings back memories.

Do you have a song that never fails to lift you?

❤nat

[Croix]

Dear Natalie

A pleasure to see you here.

Yes and it ends:

As the images unwind
Like the circles
That you find
In the windmills of your mind !

Minds going in circles is one of the real hassles many of us have to endure. I like to think the song unravels some of them and sends them down fresh paths.

Of course one of the important paths for me is that cliff-top I've written about before. Today the winds are so strong I have to lean into them, the sheep have sensibly departed to their little huts for the night.

I can see the lighthouse beam sweeping around in the distance, offering safety in a beacon.

Croix (who wonders how it can be random if JB comes up every time:)