At the moment, getting rid of this flu would bring me joy the most. It’s getting better, but it’s not finished yet. Flu takes a lot out of you. The nights are the worst with all the coughing and phlegm in your lungs. I get a headache from all that coughing. I miss breathing and the taste of food. Now it tastes foul, but even that is getting better. Being ill makes you appreciate being well. All that matter is that it will be over soon.

Blogging and writing bring me joy. I’m always good at it in some ways. I prefer writing to talking because you have time to think when you write. If I say something, I often believe afterwards that I should have said it some other way, but then the situation is over. That’s one of the reasons why I fail at job interviews. I’m not verbal enough in conversations. But writing can also be frustrating. Especially when it’s challenging to find the right words to describe things. I have a love and dislike relationship with writing. Fiction goes better than fact writing. I couldn’t live without writing my thoughts down somewhere. I used to write a diary, and now I blog. The difference is that blogging is sharing with others, which brings me joy.

You can’t always stay inside. If I didn’t go somewhere, I would go crazy. I love going out for walks and taking long bike trips in the summer if it isn’t too hot. I can get away from the city and be alone. It’s relaxing, and I get back home, feeling I have done something. I can’t understand how certain young people can stay inside a year in and a year out. They only go out to go to the store or smoke on the balcony. I’m a homebody, but I want to be away from it once in a while. I don’t love my home that much. I feel joy when I get to explore my city on a bike. Some people get to the gym, and I take bike trips or long walks. That’s all the exercise I need. Nature is essential to me. It gives me strength. It’s good for your mental health.

Movies, television, and music are my escape from the real world. When we first got cable in 1987, I was hooked. My mother thoughts I was watching too much television at the time. Cable got everything; it was a dream come true to see music videos and all that stuff. Of course, we had TV channels before, but not until cable TV videos were nonexistent. It opened a whole new world, and I haven’t looked back. Before cable, we went to the theatres to see movies. I belonged to a movie club with my mother when I was a kid. They showed movies for kids. I have been fascinated by movies for a long time. I always watch the extras on DVDs about making movies. One of my first education was screenplay writing, and now I am studying filmmaking again. That’s how much I enjoy it.

The most joy is definitely watching sports on TV, especially if they win. Nothing beats the adrenaline sport gives you. Seeing a Finn winning or losing gives so many emotions. It got everything, drama, tears, happiness, disappointments and everything in between. My favourite sport is ice hockey. I’ve seen quite many games on the spot from our local team. The atmosphere is fantastic. It’s something you don’t get through the television. The best feeling is when your country wins championships in something, and the whole country has something in common for a change. Ice hockey is a significant sport in Finland. Last year we won our first gold in the winter Olympics and world championships at home. Half of the country went mad. Winning in ice hockey is probably the only time Finnish men cry. Sometimes the win celebrations get overboard. They break things and do silly things. That’s what too much alcohol does to some people, which is a shame since it should be about fun and not acting like jerks. That’s one of the downsides of watching sports.

Without all of this joy, life would be much duller. Doing something positive will do anyone good.