19.11.17

the true secret of happiness




"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." - William Morris

This William Morris quote has always been one of my favourites. I first stumbled across it when I was in a somewhat unhappy place in my life, and it was just what I needed to put things into perspective. It can be so easy to focus on the bad things, rather than appreciating the many little details and small moments that make each day special. Sade spoke about gratitude on an Instagram post last month, so inspired by her post, for the last six/seven weeks I've noted down at least one detail, moment, feeling or thing a day that made me happy. It became quite a long list that's been so lovely to reflect on, so here is just a fraction of what's put a smile on my face recently...



1. The feeling of pure contentment and happiness I have when I'm at home with mum and Rob. My little family together, I love them so much.

2. Discovering that my old PS2 still works. Cue HOURS have been spent trying to beat my top scores on Singstar!

3. My big, pink, teddy bear coat from Next. Wearing it just feels like a big, warm hug.

4. A sleepover at my Grandma's house. Chicken curry for dinner, a massive catch up and an early night was the perfect way to break up my working week.

5. Celebrating Rob's birthday by surprising him with lots of token presents, a trip to the Colchester Zoo and dinner at one of our favourite restaurants. Seeing him happy makes me even more happy, that's for sure.

6. Holding my cousin's seven week old baby for the first time. My heart!

7. Having a cosy evening in, tucked up on the sofa in my pajamas with a herbal tea. Such a simple pleasure!

8. Coffee dates & shopping trips with Paige. Last year we realised that we lived just five minutes apart from each other, it's so lovely to have a friend that lives locally.

9. Treating myself to a much needed massage - I need to do this more often!

10. Feeling ridiculously proud of my mum for reaching over 350k views (!!!) on her craft YouTube video, and because my friend Rebecca has only bloody gone and bought her first home!

11. Winning not one, but TWO competitions - a meal for four at Dirty Bones, and matching Keds for me and my mum. Get me!

12. A lazy Sunday well spent, tucking into a roast dinner and watching Age of Adaline with mum and Rob. 

13. Filling up my diary with plans for the rest of the year. I feel so much more content when I have things to look forward to.

14. Strictly Come Dancing - that show makes my weekends! 

What's made you happy recently?
Love Jazz xx


Photography: Steven Landles
William Morris Dress - House of Hackney
Location (featuring William Morris wallpaper!) - The Cats Back, Wandsworth

8 comments

  1. I'm glad to hear you are still entering competitions (and winning!).
    I've not heard the quote before, but it's very true. So glad to see you so happy Jazmine <3 x x x

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    1. haha, still can't resit a competition or two! thank you so much alice - likewise! xx

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  2. I saw your mum videos and loved them, congratulations on te views. My videos get a mere of 500 views or even less!!! Congrats x

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    1. thank you! she has done amazingly well! so proud :) 500 is still impressive! making a video in the first place is too! i'd like to get into youtube, i just don't know if i have it in me! xx

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  3. It made me so happy to read this! I too feel happy about the cosy evenings spent with my boyfriend watching stranger things, winning my first ever competition, getting my first paid blog job, having sweet chilli hummus and veggies for lunch, there is so much! xx
    http://www.pagesfrombeth.co.uk

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    1. so many lovely things to be happy about! congrats on your first paid blog job and winning your first competition! xx

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  4. Such a lovely, positive post! :) I can relate to most things that made you happy lately, which is great as it means we are all potentially overlooking simple little things/moments in life that we should concentrate on, as they are the ones that prove we live a happy life!
    Loved Age of Adeline, actually need to see it again so thanks for a fab idea for a cosy evening in! :)
    What made me early happy lately... This amazing rainbow jumper from Lazy Oaf :), finishing work at 3:30 everyday due to my recent scary decision to change jobs - energy levels are amazing, have forgotten you can feel like this! :), and getting back into posting and crafting here and there. These are just a few things I can think of right now, I should really keep a list like you did, I can imagine how warm it felt reading it back to yourself! :)
    Anyway, have a lovely rest of the week! :)
    Diana xxx
    http://diasway.co.uk/rainbow-jumper-for-the-monday-blues/

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    1. thank you so much, diana! age of adeline was so, so good! can't wait to watch it again :) sounds like you have had loads of lovely things to be happy about :) happy december! xx

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