I’m working my way through Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write, which is a wonderful roadmap for anyone who loves writing…and sometimes resists doing it.

The book is full of writing exercises to get you out of your head and onto the page. The one I’m sharing today is particularly designed to help you find joy in writing, and life.

Cameron recommends writing this list of 100 things you love in one 30-minute sitting. I had to take a few breaks and come back to it. Either way, it’s a great exercise in positivity, and helps ground you in a concrete reality. I’ve never been too interested in physical things—my brothers and I were raised, perhaps accidentally, to be minimalists of sorts—but it’s interesting to see what objects do hold significance for me, as well as places, moments, creatures, and foods.

I’m sharing my list with you here because, why not? And to encourage you to write your own. xo

One hundred things…

1. Avocados, at the perfect moment of ripeness
2. Quiet mornings
3. Hummingbirds, especially the ruby throats
4. Brick
5. Spring and the feeling of possibility that comes with it
6. Notebooks
7. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like animals
8. The colour red
9. Stained glass
10. Violins
11. Musicals
12. Students
13. Moroccan mint green tea
14. Long cotton dresses
15. Michael Jackson’s music, especially from the Jackson Five
16. Stevie Nicks
17. Pink potted begonias
18. Orchids
19. Weeping willows
20. Alvy’s tiny meow
21. Red-winged blackbirds
22. Victorian houses
23. Murals
24. Outdoor chess boards of all sizes
25. Silence
26. Cities
27. Cellos
28. Bookstores, especially used and rambling
29. Rondeau beach
30. White wine
31. Walks
32. Candlelit restaurants
33. Mashed potatoes
34. Really, any potatoes
35. Sushi
36. Owls
37. Summer just before dusk
38. Wassily Kandinsky
39. Little Women
40. Intimate narrators
41. Coffee, with just a splash of cream
42. Industrial wood desks
43. A good pen
44. Wildflowers
45. Especially the ones my mom calls “ditch lilies”
46. Women with red hair
47. Deer
48. Dancing
49. Prose poetry
50. Old black and white photos
51. Hardwood floors
52. Libraries
53. Beagles
54. Crayons, their waxy smell
55. Sharp white cheddar
56. Feathers
57. Cobblestone streets
58. Laughter
59. Peanut butter and chocolate
60. Vases
61. Saying thank you
62. Being thanked
63. My 1963 copy of Hamlet
64. The theatre
65. Canadian spelling
66. Polka dots
67. Flat Ontario fields
68. Cilantro
69. My red sunglasses, and sun so bright I have to wear them
70. Salt, just a little
71. Poppies
72. Alvy’s fur, its smell of dust and dried basil
73. Ancient ampitheatres
74. Europe
75. Spanish
76. Puppets
77. Tabby cats
78. Being my own boss
79. Sunsets
80. Vintage dresses
81. Blueberries
82. Small, practical heels
83. Waking up without an alarm
84. Shiny green bugs like jewels
85. The red panda we saw in that India documentary
86. Documentaries
87. Short stories
88. Arriving in a strange place
89. Dry wit
90. Hats
91. Red pepper flakes
92. Post-it notes
93. Getting letters in the mail
94. Abstract paintings
95. Robin’s egg blue, especially in dish form
96. Tickets to a show
97. Spiderwebs when the light hits them
98. Red front doors
99. Dining out, anywhere
100. The mystery of the future

So that’s it! Go ahead: write your own list of things you love. If you do, I’d be thrilled if you reported back with some of your highlights…or perhaps things that surprised you!