List of Simple Pleasures

An ode to the little things that make us smile, inside and out. BY INA AMOR MEJIA

ONE TIME I READ an article in a magazine, where someone talked about the joy of finding money left in her jeans. It was an actual magazine too. The tactile pleasure of holding and leafing through I've been missing these days. I thought about making a list of old pleasures and simple joys, and asked a few of my friends to add to it.                        

HERE IT GOES

Forehead kisses. - Sari, Dancer

Reading that one sentence in a new book 
that takes your breath away. - Megan, English Teacher

Tears from laughing so hard. - Me

Hearing your child say, 
"I'm not scared anymore." Kate, Entrepreneur

Popping the life out of the bubble wrap that came 
with that thing you ordered online. - Michal, Interior Designer

Total silence. - Zarah, Marketing Executive

Seeds sprouting in my garden. - Doogie, Entrepreneur

Perfect scrambled eggs. - Pietra, Chef

Bonfires. - Nicole, Travel Agent

Good skin days. - Laarni, Banker

Jumping out of bed in horror thinking you're
so late then realizing it's a weekend. - Anna, Magazine Editor

Delicious, sleepy stretches in bed. - Tina, Photographer

Making eye contact with a cute guy then catching him turn 
his head around to take a second look. - Katherine, TV executive

When you've cooked something and your kids
go for seconds and thirds! - Janice, Stock Broker

Long talks over coffee with my
90-year old mom. - Johanna, Voice Artist

Looking up just in time to see a shooting star. - Dianne, Musician

Long, patient hugs. - Bella, Dentist

A dense but milky flat white with a hint of coffee. 
- Alan, Newsroom Consultant

Street musicians. - Jessie, Graphic Designer

Receiving postcards from friends 
after the unbearable waiting. - Beverly, Writer

Running to the sea. - Jasmine, Dive Instructor

Spontaneous conversations with people you don't know,
like standing in line or in the elevator. - Karen, Content Marketing

Finding old letters. - Annabelle, my Mom

And finally, here's a favorite quote:

"To live content with small means. To seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion. To be worthy not respectable, and wealthy not rich. To listen to stars and birds and babes and sages with an open heart. To study hard, think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions. Never hurry. In a word, to let the spiritual, the unbidden and the unconscious rise up through the common. This is my symphony." William Henry Channing

*Photo by Ina Amor Mejia for the April 2016 issue of Southern Living Magazine

Sineguelas, We Meet Again

This one is giving me all the old feels, and some Vitamin C. BY INA AMOR MEJIA

IT  TAKES VERY LITTLE to make me happy sometimes. Gabby came back from a trip with a bag of Spanish Plums, or Sineguelas, as we call them over here---a sweet and sour fruit that I remember eating as a kid. So late that night I sat in bed eating five of them, and random memories came and went. Sineguelas are not the kind of fruit you eat everyday, you don't normally get them at the grocery or market in a big city, and you never know when you'll get them again (unless of course you've got some growing in your backyard). A little backstory...

Just one diet trick

PART OF MY JOB as associate editor of a food magazine was to know all the trends in the culinary world. This included the diets of the moment. Back then it was all about Atkins and South Beach, the blood type diet, and the French Women Don't Get Fat diet. Then there was the Mediterranean Diet with its focus on heart health. But another diet got my attention because of this book. I ended up doing a feature for the magazine and learning about the habits of the longest living people on Earth. The Okinawa centenarians---who eat lots of tofu, seaweed and bitter gourd. They have a certain attitude towards life and keep active. And there's this other trick I can't forget. 

It's called Hara Hachi Bu --- or eating until you're 80 per cent full. 

How do you know? Eighty per cent full means you're satisfied, but you could eat more, but if you don't, you'd be ok too. Apparently, it takes 10-20 minutes for the brain to register that you're actually full. By the time it does, you've already overeaten. Thanks brain.

If I only remembered this during both my pregnancies, I wouldn't have gained those 55 pounds of fried bananas and prosciutto. Just saying.

And thanks for reading!

*Photo from My name is yeh

Could this be the Trick of Life?

THERE ARE SOME OF YOU out there like me, for whom sleep is a complicated thing. There are two moments that are vital: late at night right before bed, and first thing in the morning when I awake. Night and day are defined by the peace of these moments. And there are a number of things that can disturb it---a looming deadline, an illness in the family, a massive case of self-doubt...or anything wrong in the world that I've come to worry about. Things, and the thoughts of things become intrusive, sometimes relentless in the worst of days. But I think I've found a hack for it...