How to cherish the small moments of joy with your dog
- Scotty
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
A huge part of the motivation behind my cartoon pet portraits has always been to bring something different from standard portraits, in that as much focus always goes into portraying each dog’s unique character, as their appearance.
My favourite part of the process is receiving the completed personality forms that I send to each client, and learning all about their character. In addition to the bigger aspects of their personality, clients often include little moments of joy, or “glimmers” that their dogs bring them.
Noticing micro moments of joy with your dog, or “glimmers”
Dogs bring us glimmers every single day, and I recently decided to record some of the ones that Sadie brings. Some of them brought genuine joy at the time, but I know that if I hadn’t written them down, they would have become lost and forgotten in time. I love that I can look through my glimmers in years to come, and be reminded of special moments and tiny traits that she’s shared with me.
In today’s busy world, we’re often distracted by what’s going on around us, not to mention our phones glued to our hands. Mindfully being in the moment with Sadie more often has brought so many extra moments of joy, and I’m learning new tiny things about her all the time.
Creating tangible keepsakes
For this reason, I decided to create some free glimmer prompts to share with you, so that you can create your own glimmer jar and treasure those moments with your dog too.
At the end of this blog post, you will find a link to my glimmers freebie form. If you fill the quick form in, you will receive 36 free dog glimmer prompts, along with 12 reusable blanks, ready to print out and fill in about your dog.
When I started my jar, I filled in several at the start that I knew I didn’t want to forget, and now just fill one in every now and then when the mood takes me, when Sadie has done something particularly cute, adorable or intuitive. However, there’s no right or wrong way to create and use a glimmer jar, and it’s intended to be a positive in your life rather than a chore, so just do whatever feels good to you.
Sometimes the purest moments are the simplest ones
Try not to overthink it, as the whole point of glimmers is that they are micro moments of joy. They’re the kind of precious moments that are so tiny that they could be forgotten in time, but they’re special enough to want to treasure.
On the first hot day of this year, Sadie the sun puddler was in the best mood all day. As I sat in the garden distracted by thinking about something that had happened that day, I just happened to glance at her, and she was giving me the most gorgeous look. As soon as she saw me looking at her, she shuffled closer and rested her chin on my lap.
I recorded that moment because even though it seems almost insignificant, it immediately made me happy, and rereading it at a later date will bring that moment back to me. As far as Sadie was concerned, in that moment we were the only two beings alive, and we were sharing a happy time.
Understanding your dog’s personality
Since I’ve been keeping a dog glimmer jar, I’ve learnt more things about Sadie. I now find myself watching her more often, look at her when she’s not aware, and notice extra tiny details of her character that I was previously unaware of.
I recently emptied the jar and reread the notes from the last few months. It made me aware just how intuitive she is, how sweet, loving, funny and sensitive. I knew all of those things about her, of course, but I don’t think I realised the depth of them before. I also noticed more moments of her being brave, and as I worry about how sensitive she is a lot of the time, I found that a huge comfort that maybe she can cope with more than I gave her credit for.
Dogs celebrate everything, and maybe that’s one of the best lessons they can give us.
Studies have found that glimmers can actually be beneficial to our health.
The Newport Institute found that over time, glimmers help regulate the nervous system, building emotional resilience and gently easing us away from a constant fight-or-flight state. [*1]
Similarly, the Neurodiversity Education Academy also studied glimmers, and reported that “small, repeated experiences of safety can reshape the brain, making it easier to access calm states over time.” [*2]
Dogs often live in the moment, and I have no doubt that they naturally notice life’s glimmers more than we do, so maybe it’s an area that they could teach us a thing or two about.
Reference links:
LINK TO FREEBIE
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