I’m not talking about Aunt Millie’s homemade jam, although that might qualify as happiness in a jar too. I’m talking about an idea I saw posted on Facebook last year. You might have heard of it. It’s simple – as the year unfolds, you fill a jar with little notes. These notes can be about anything that brings you joy. Accomplishments, nice dinners, simple moments with people you love – anything that you can fit on a little scrap piece of paper and put in a jar. At the end of the year, you dump out the jar and read the notes.

I did this for 2013, and this morning, on the first day of the new year, we dumped it out and read the scraps of paper while we at a bacon, egg and cheddar quiche. And I have to say, it was really nice. Reminiscing about the good moments throughout the year made us smile, and seeing how full of joyous moments the jar was – actually seeing so many scraps of paper in it – gave me a sense of how good my life is. It’s easy to get bogged down in the difficulties of life and focus on the negative. It happens to all of us. This little reminder of the happy times made for a great start to 2014. 

So what did the notes say? Everything from a weekend trip summary – “April 2013. Went to DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Favorite meal @ 1789. Chef’s tasting and wine pairing – broccoli salad, scallops, lamb-stuffed ravioli, lamb shoulder – mmm. Best hummus @ Mediterra.” – to a sweet moment with my son – “Thurs. 1-17-2013. Corey came in to snuggle with me @ 7:08 AM and said, ‘Hello! Good morning! I love you!'”

Time to get started on my 2014 jar. Happy New Year!