What Do You Need to Say Yes to?

Usually, I write my blog posts first and then look for a photo or visual image to accompany it, but this time it's the photo that's inspired this post- thanks to my "21 Day Instagram Habit." Each week of this "21 Day Instagram Experiment" I've tried out new things with my Instagram accounts and shared 7 new tips for using Instagram. One of the tips I've been wanting to try out from week 2 is Tip #7: Ask a question in your post's caption to invite discussion, comments and debate. That's where the idea to use this photo came from.  

What do you need to say yes to? What do you want more of in your life? What's been missing?

This mural caught my eye a month ago but there was still snow on the ground, so I wasn't able to get a good shot of it. I had planned to return to get better shot of it for my Instagram account, @ICarteverywhere, which is dedicated to street art and art, but then I realized that it would be perfect to use on my personal Instagram account @felishalin with this question in the caption: What do you need to say yes to?

I figured that question would elicit some responses or reactions. I planned expand on it a bit more in the Instagram caption. The question of what you need to say yes to is not so much about a feeling of obligation, but about positivity, possibility and promise.

What would you like to have more of in your life? Maybe you're in need of some joy and laughter. So try to find the humor in things and lighten up.

Is there something new you'd like to try? Like learning a new language, or taking singing lessons. Maybe it's time to check something off your bucket list, or maybe you've never heard of a "bucket list," and now that you have, it's time to make one for yourself.

Is there something missing or something you've been neglecting? Perhaps you've lost touch with a friend or been too busy to work out regularly?

What would make you happy?

I'd like to know what your yes or yeses are! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. 

As I mentally prepared to write about all this in an Instagram caption, I thought about my own answer to the question: What do you need to say yes to? And I realized that this could be the subject of a blog post.

I have three things that I'd say yes to.

I'd carve out time to write daily in my personal journal. Though I've been blogging more lately, I have so much on my plate these days that I don't always have time to write in my personal journal. For me, when I journal, I can just show up on the page and write through my thoughts, uncensored and without judgment. Writing can definitely be therapeutic and like a sort of meditation.

The two other things on my YES List are: 1) to spend more time outdoors connecting with nature and 2) to take walks. For me walks can be like a mini-adventure and full of discovery. But they needn't be, because a boring walk could be just the thing to let your mind wander and come up with insights and ideas. A 2014 Stanford study that found that walking (whether indoors or outdoors) boosts creative thinking.

As for the benefits of the great outdoors, I recently read an article written by Amelia Urry about "The Nature Fix," which is the title of a book by Florence Williams. In the book Williams describes how she felt disoriented, overwhelmed and depressed and due to nature withdrawal. According to Williams, we don’t spend enough time in nature to let us know how good it makes us feel, and then because we don’t know how good it makes us feel we don’t spend enough time in nature.

I'm looking forward to getting my two yeses in with one stone as I make an effort to take more walks outdoors. That'll be easy now that spring is finally upon us. I'll also be working on getting back into the daily habit of journaling. 

Any day is a good day to "say yes" to bringing more positivity into your life. What's on your YES List? What will you be saying yes to?