Fifth Pocket of Joy: My slippers!!!!
Now, slippers are not just “slippers.” As with most of the inanimate objects that fill my heart with joy, slippers represent something special.
I would say, my love of slippers was “seeded” growing up. For Easter and Christmas my mom would always gift pyjamas and often matching socks or slippers. It was a way for my mom to give me fun gifts, without them being food-based.
That said, my LOVE of slippers did not grow from an acorn into a full-blown tree until James brought me home my AMAZING seal slippers from Vancouver.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved the actual physical slippers (they are goofy and fun and fluffy and white), BUT what I loved most is what the gift demonstrated. The gift showed that he listened to both my childhood stories and my “language of love.” (If you have not read The 5 Love Languages book, do it NOW. It is a must.) Growing up, my mom brought me gifts when she traveled for work — it made her leaving on the trips more palatable. I have kept that tradition and try to always bring both my mom and James small memories when I travel. I would call “thoughtful gift-giving” my language of love. Traditionally, “gifts” are not so much his language. The slippers showed me that he knew me, that he knew I would appreciate the gesture, and that he was willing to figure out a new combined language of love. A, shall we say, “Harter” family language of love? (Harter is the combo of our two last names.)
Since those wonderful seal slippers, James has bought me fox slippers, multiple Christmas slippers, tall “winter” slippers (that I wear year round), and Minnie Mouse slippers. (The tall “reading sock slippers” in the photo were actually given to me by my amazing web designer/graphic designer/technological wizard, Tracy.)
The moral of the joy story is that slippers have multiple uses; they have practical use, which I appreciate (they keep my feet warm), but they also help fill my “goof” quotient for the day, AND they remind me that my partner and my mom LOVE me. Win, win, AND win!!!!
Now do you see why I love my pockets of joy so much?