I keep sitting down, thinking I will write the next post in my green schools blog series (catch up on one and two), but it just doesn’t feel like the right time. How can I write about the amazing green initiatives that go on in my district when we aren’t working there right now? Life feels so bizarre!

Instead, I decided to capture something that has made me happy during these challenging times. There are a few hashtags on Instagram that are bringing me joy! I want to share that joy with you and invite you to come over to Instagram to enjoy theses happiness hashtags.

#aprillove2020 – Every year Susannah Conway does an April Love photo challenge, an August photo challenge, and a December end-of-year reflection that helps me choose my word of the year. I love Conway’s work and I have dabbled in her photo challenges in the past on and off. She began the April challenge earlier this week, in late March, to give us something to enjoy during self quarantine and social distancing.  Some days I use the prompts, and other days I tag the hashtag on whatever I’ve photographed that day. By visiting the hashtag each day, you see amazing creativity, glimpses into the lives of strangers who are all participating in the same challenge, and ways to connect. It’s hard to imagine how many perspectives there are on one simple prompt, but each person’s interpretation is unique. Conway’s photos are always beautiful, and often of her cat and the city of London. I am inspired by her creativity throughout the year, and I appreciate this April Love challenge more now than ever before!

#onedaycv – I have shared my love of the podcast 10 Things to Tell You, by Laura Tremaine, many times on this blog since I discovered it about 8 months ago. Tremaine created an annual challenge called #onedayhh, which was one day hour by hour. She encouraged people to post a day in their life, hour by hour, one day each fall.  I participated in last year’s, which was in November I believe. It was a fun way to see what a day in the life looks like for a wide range of people. Building on this community idea, Tremaine is now challenging us all to document our time during the coronavirus (hence the cv on this hashtag!).  Her recent podcast, episode 58, was about 10 ways to write your own history. One of the ways was to use #onedaycv to document this unique era in our lives, in your own words and pictures from your life. I am loving this community and it has challenged me to find something to acknowledge each day during the two weeks I’ve been working from home. It will be interesting to look back on this time years from now to see how small our worlds were for awhile, when we were social distancing physically, but connecting virtually in new ways.

#seemorebywalking – The third hashtag that is bringing me happiness is this one – See More By Walking. For years I had two friends who used this hashtag every weekend, when they would go explore a new neighborhood around San Diego. I loved seeing what they saw on their weekend walks. I was reminded of the hashtag this week during one of my daily afternoon walks. After full days of staring at my computer screen, I am loving the fact that I am able to get out of my house each afternoon to meet my brother for a walk around our neighborhood.  Since we both live alone, and have limited our contact with anyone over the last two weeks, we feel safe to meet up for our walks (though we still keep space between us at all times!). It’s been fascinating to explore new-to-us nooks and crannies in a neighborhood where I’ve lived for over 15 years. I’ve seen things I never notice when I drive by, but you truly do see more by walking.

What hashtags are bringing you happiness these days?  Please share them in the comments!

All of this is reminding me again of my word of the year.  Grace found me last fall and I knew it was going to be important in 2020, though at the time I had no idea how or why. Every day right now I am reminded to give myself grace and to leave space for grace for others.