My life is filled with joy moments and I share a lot of them here, on our retirement lifestyle blog. Joy moments don’t have to be celebrations of monumental accomplishments, goals attained or milestones in life, they can be simple and ordinary, like the beauty of a sunset, a child’s laughter, a fragrance that evokes a special memory, or the way a balmy breeze makes you feel -anything really, that makes you smile.
Trent, over at Trent’s World has devoted a post each week to sharing moments that make him smile. Along with his original post, he invites others to participate by sharing a link to their joy moment.
The idea is so simple, yet so powerful when you think about the ripple effect it could have. I hope you will visit his page and consider participating. We all need a few joy moments in our lives and why not take a minute to share yours.
These three images represent some of my joy moments from this past week. I took these photos at the beach, which is about twenty minutes from our home. Macarthur Boulevard is a small strip of land between the Indian River and the Atlantic ocean in Stuart, Florida. It is the absolute best place to be at sunset on just about any day of the week. I posted these photos on my Instagram account and the image in the middle was requested by a local magazine. They will use it in their SM campaign to promote our city. Of course I am thrilled. It makes me smile that people beyond my own followers will get to see this image and it encourages me to take more beautiful pictures that promote Florida.
What made me smile this week was the click of a shutter that resulted in a beautiful image. The recognition was pretty cool too!
This post was also composed in response to a photo challenge at Nancy Merrill Photography. This week’s challenge is Landscapes. You do not need to be a professional photographer to participate, so if you have a beautiful landscape photo you’d like to share, please visit her blog here.
All beautiful and joyful images! I especially love the first one. Sunsets are one of my favorite “joy moments.”
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Thank you Tracey. I am glad they made you smile.
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Absolutely beautiful Suzanne, all of them are gorgeous
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Thank you Sam, I appreciate the compliment.
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GORGEOUS!
Thanks for sharing, Suzanne!
Deb
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Thank you Deb, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
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Congrats, Suzanne, on having your photo selected to promote your city. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.
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Thank you Natalie, I just love it when that happens!
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Great photos and very cool that one will be sued by a local magazine. I agree, we need to look at anything that makes us smile, not just the huge ones 🙂
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Thanks Trent, little things make the world go round. Thanks for hosting.
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Stunning images, Suzanne and congratulations on having one chosen for the magazine. It was my favourite too. Nature always brings joy doesn’t it?
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Thanks for linking up at #MLSTL, Suzanne xx
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and thank you for hosting
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These are incredibly stunning images. All perfectly evoke joy!
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Thank you Donna, I love them too.
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That is an amazing photo, the color of the water is beautiful
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Alice, it was one of those days when the water was clear and the colors reflected perfectly.
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Suzanne they’re beautiful photos (I saved the two sunset ones to my Pinterest sunset board) and congrats on being featured as well! My only complaint is that the toothy smile logo for the challenge has the teeth set off centre – it makes my dental therapist brain hurt looking at the midline shift! (Yes the OCD thing is still alive and well – and we won’t go into his lettering either!!)
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊
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Ha,ha, I will pass that on to Trent. It will make him SMILE! Thanks for pinning the photos on your sunset board!
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So good to find joy in the ‘every day’ because nature is very very special alright!
Denyse #mlstl
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Denyse, nature is Joy! Thanks for stopping by.
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I love your idea of joy moments Suzanne and your photos are great depictions of that joy. Congrats on the photo being selected, that’s fabulous recognitions. #mlstl
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Thank you Deb and thanks for visiting.
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Suzanne, Recently I am reading different definitions of Joy and Happiness. ‘Tomato’ ‘Tomuto’. I am not getting hung up on the definitions. I agree how they both can create a ripple effect in our world. I also agree with you how the idea is so simple, yet powerful. I love all three images, Suzanne. Congratulations on the centre image! Thank you for spreading the beauty and the joy!
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Erica, I would love to hear your expanded thoughts in a full blown post. I think it would be interesting to explore the differences. Thanks for your compliment.
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Congratulations on having your photo selected to promote your city. it is a beautiful shot! You should celebrate that as a very special moment. Looking at your photos makes me long for the water. We live near a lake but it is frozen at the moment!
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Michele, I think a frozen lake on a foggy morning would make a pretty spectacular shot too. thanks for stopping by.
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We’re heading to Florida in a month and your pictures made me smile because I’m ready for those views in person!! It’s snowing outside my window right now. ❄️❄️
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Snow is beautiful but I wouldn’t want to live in it. Will you be visiting the East or West coast of Florida? It’s all beautiful and should be nice and warm by then. Enjoy!
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West coast. Gulf shore west of Tampa. Love it there.
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The beach and beautiful sunsets bring me great joy too! I am so grateful that I’m not too far from the ocean and that this time of year seems to produce the best sunrises and sunsets. Congrats on your photo being used by the magazine!
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Janis, you have the extra bonus of low humidity, which makes visiting the beach even more pleasant. I am not up for the sunrises very often, but the sunsets have been beautiful lately.
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Beautiful photos! Living near the ocean is such a wonderful addition to our lives too.
Congrats on your photo. Well deserved!
Peta
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Peta, I am a water person and can’t imagine not living near the ocean. It is a very soothing place to be.
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Oh I really like that first image – great composure!
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Thank you!
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These are beautiful beach shots and I can understand why the magazine wanted one of them! Congratulations!
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Thank you Dawn and welcome to Picture Retirement.
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Hi, Suzanne,
I’m finally catching up with my favorite bloggers after our return from your part of the world. I am very envious of your talent with a camera. If I were your local magazine publisher, I would have chosen that picture in a heartbeat. We passed through Stuart on our way home. Beautiful weather for a holiday weekend, and the roads were busy! Next time, we’ll stop and buy you a root beer! Thanks for sharing the pics. Joe
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Joe, thank you for your kind comment regarding the photographs. It is a hobby that keeps me entertained and out of trouble! I should have extended an invitation to stop by, but I was not sure if your posts were ‘real time’ or after the fact. My bad. Next time we will make a better effort. You would love our little town!
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Your images are gorgeous! And I agree completely with you about focusing on joy in life. I learned a long time ago that practicing gratitude on a daily basis is life-changing. Life is always going to present us with challenges, but might as well deal with whatever we need to do, and focus on the positive, right? 🙂
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Thank you Laurel and welcome to Picture Retirement where the glass is always half full! We appreciate your visit.
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