Introducing: Dreamy Moments

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll notice I’ve got a cute little daily dreamy moment thing going on in my stories. I thought I’d share more on this because OMG they work.

I’ve decided to share some dreamy moments on this blog at the start of each month so it’s not all doom and gloom all the time haha. These are something that I document daily on my Insta stories, because it keeps me accountable and hopefully inspires others to see the beauty in everyday things.

What are Dreamy Moments? 

Dreamy moments are teeny moments in my day that made me feel joy, peace or contentment. That’s literally it. They’re not grand or groundbreaking. They’re certainly not glamorous. They're just cute moments where I feel, however fleeting, in love with life. 

A little background story

This isn’t a concept I’ve come up with myself. It was told to me during an assessment for PTSD (which I don’t have but more on that later). During these chats with a lovely lady (let’s call her Susan), we spoke a LOT about the importance of self-care. Which as survivors/people pleasers we tend to find incredibly difficult, as other people’s needs have always had to come first. 

I said I find it almost impossible to find time for the things I enjoy (shout-out to my incredible ability to self-sabotage lol). And even when I do those things, my mind will focus on everything I ‘should’ be doing instead. The dishes. A work project. A college assignment that’s due soon. Spending quality time with my partner/child. That person I love deeply who I never get round to texting. I can’t switch my feckin brain off. 

To get to my point (eventually) - lovely Susan came up with a suggestion. An alternative, if you will, to acts of indulgent self-care. Forget the bubble baths and candles and reading in a sunlit garden, she said. Simply find and highlight one thing every day that’s brought you joy. Even on the shittiest of days. Think back on that little moment of peace or happiness and savour it. Sounds dreamy, I replied. An easy win. Something nice for me that takes less than a minute? I’m sold. 

It turns out people have been banging on about these little joyful moments for yonks. They call them glimmers, savours, gratitudes, living deliciously, little things, a pocketful of happiness… the list of gorgeous names is endless. And it’s something I have recommended a lot in my suicide prevention work. Finding a daily glimmer of hope can be such a challenge when we’re feeling crap. But it’s better than not looking for it, right? 

I’m not feeling so dreamy lately

Full disclosure: I definitely haven't felt dreamy recently. I’ve been full of cold, my college assignments are due, my workload has intensified as I’ve been sick. I feel exhausted from parenting and trying to look after myself and keeping in touch with friends and loved ones. My house is a tip because I’ve had no energy. Even when I’m physically well, I tend to slip into depressive states of procrastination and exhaustion if I don’t take care of myself. I can be so in my own head I almost refuse to let the joy in without even realising. My life is not totally full of dreamy moments. 

However -  even in my lowest points, there’s a small amount of contentment to be found. I’ve kept a daily log of these on my Instagram (check out the highlights) since the start of 2024. What’s great about this accountability is on the REALLY shitty days, I’ve had to actually create a dreamy moment to share. I bought myself flowers. I walked in the woods. Did some colouring once, FFS. But even these manufactured moments worked. I felt better. 

I’m not here to give you overly glamorised staged moments of pure ecstasy. That kind of BS reminds me of those memes of women laughing whilst eating salads. You know what I mean? On my good days, these will be pictures of a stunning view after a hike with friends or my amazing partner. On the shite days, it’ll be my comfort TV show or a photo of my dog. I want these to be as authentic and real as possible. No pretence. No fake ass happy smiley salad photos. I’m all for the messy and the mundane. 

Find your daily dreamy moments

I’d love to see more people’s moments of pure joy. This isn’t a protected title or campaign with a hashtag or any of that marketing malarky. Just go out and find one thing today that makes you smile and share it. You don’t even have to call it a dreamy moment. Call it whatever the feck you like. Be cringe (like me hehe) and try to do it every day for a week. It’s actually so freeing and lovely and can really inspire others to find hope even on the darkest of days. Also I can’t wait to see what makes you smile ya big cutie ya. 

Love you all so much thank you for reading and I hope you can find something dreamy today. Maybe pop something small in the comments section below and we can all giggle and kick our feet over how adorable we all are. 

If you can’t, or if life’s taking so much of a toll on you that this feels too much, please reach out for support. You’re so important and deserve all the dreamy-ness. 

Grá Mór, 

Sarah x