Hearth & Horizon

Happies seem to be a distinctive colloquialism around here, at least to me. Maybe it's just a Southernism. I was raised in NWA (northwest Arkansas) and had never heard of the term until we moved to central Mississippi. They seem to just be small gifts or items given to make someone happy, it's pretty flexible in use. It can be something like giving a gift card or picking up a trinket that reminded you of someone.  While I've heard them used as physical items given as gifts, I'm going to put a twist on it for the sake of this post. I believe the closest term to what I'm thinking of is glimmers, popularized by Deb Dana's work with polyvagal theory and the nervous system. Since I'm not quite sure that my post will completely overlap the definition of glimmers, I've decided that happies will be the term I'm using. (I'm adding polyvagal theory to my never-ending list of rabbit holes to explore.)

I'm writing this to distract myself from the itch to buy "stuff". In my case, I'm fairly sure this is good ole American consumerism mixed in with neurodiversity and maybe some fantastical thinking.  I live in a house full of stuff. Stuff that I needed, stuff that I wanted, stuff that I thought was a good idea to buy for that possible need someday, stuff that I probably have no idea that I own stuffed in a box somewhere. Yet here I sit, staring at a cart page that beckons me to check out with a siren call unlike any other. And recently, I've been finding myself wanting to break free from its grips. Well, let me back up a bit. I say  that I want to be free of it. And rationally, that is the case. I have seen the effects of hoarding in the lives of loved ones and how it affects the people around them. I know that all sort of unmet needs, personality traits, or other issues can be transformed into a "buying this is gonna fix me" complex. I've read a book...