What Is A GLIMMER?
I did not invent the term GLIMMER, but when I first heard it HERE, I felt instantly connected to it. I started posting the glimmers I found in life with a simple photograph and sharing it with others. Many people responded warmly to to the idea and shared with me that they too connected with the idea of glimmers, and it was delightful or helpful to them. And then people started to share a glimmer they noticed with me and my heart just sang. I see a lot of joyful possibility in glimmers, precisely because they are simple and free and can be found right inside the life you are already living.
I love the contrast of natural beauty and steel texture of this magnolia against the Deyoung Museum exterior wall
So What Exactly Is A Glimmer?
Let’s do a short, nerdy exploration of the word itself. I claim no professional understanding or training in such things, but I really like learning about words that carry whole worlds of meaning inside them.
Glimmer in its original meaning is either Proto-Germanic or of Scandinavian origin, as best I can tell from the internet. Golman (Proto-Germanic), glimra (Swedish), and glimre (Danish) are some of the source words for the English version I’m most familiar with. It translates to a dim or flickering light, or to shine faintly, or give a soft light. It can also be understood as a mashup (or portmanteau word) of gleam and shimmer, which is just fun. All that makes me think of a soft twinkly light that draws your attention and makes you a bit curious about it.
Language is ever-evolving through necessity and creativity. In August of 2023 is when I first came upon the term Glimmer as we are using it from here on out. AMA Queensland [the peak professional body for doctors around Queensland Australia] shared a post about glimmers as the oppositive of triggers and a source of positive impact for our mental health and well-being and even a way to balance out some of the triggers we can experience in life.
Here's how I define glimmers: instant joy portals, the opposite of a trigger. If a trigger is something that sets you off, zinging you to a dark place, a glimmer zings you to a place of joy, or calm, or peace, or bliss, or a simple deep, good feeling.
Practically speaking, just as a trigger can be a person, a smell, a sight, a setting, a circumstance, a person, etc., so can glimmers. That original AMA post listed things like petting or cuddling a pet, a moment in nature, hearing a favorite song, or eating a favorite food are all glimmers. I think it comes down to something that engages our senses in a particular way. Senses are super highways between our bodies and brains.
That sensory element is perhaps what sets glimmers apart from mindfulness or gratitude, though I think those three –glimmers, mindfulness, and gratitude—share a relationship. Noticing a glimmer is a concrete way to engage with your life. They are a way to feel the good that is already present in your life. And they are free and accessible to everyone. They are already present in your life; you just have to notice them. And by noticing them, you find even more.
An important clarifier here: glimmers are not just a pretty way to live out toxic positivity. They are instead the experience of joy that can live right alongside sorrow and grief and bad days and bad years. In my typing of the word glimmers into my phone with its itty bitty keys, it frequently appears first as glummers. Which is how I’ve come to think of toxic positivity. Glummers: a forced denial of reality wrapped up in a silver lining that makes yourself or others more comfortable than the truth.
That’s our starting place. Next up we’ll explore why glimmers matter, and then move on to how to cultivate in your life.
But before we go, a gentle warning: Intentionally inviting more joy into your life can be really, really uncomfortable. Isn’t that strange? Noticing a glimmer is not difficult, it can be very, very easy in fact. But it’s even easier to walk through life without noticing the good in it. And the funky fact about joy is that it’s very related to sorrow. I think they might be cousins. To trust your heart to open to joy also means opening it to feel sorrow and maybe even grief that you’ve worked hard to keep out of sight. I want you to know that you are strong enough to feel that sorrow and grief, and you are strong enough to experience joy. If you don’t feel like you can do that alone, there are people to help. A good therapist will hold space for you until you can feel safe with that sorrow and grief. A good coach will hold space for you to take action on that courage and healing and support you as you actively seek out joy.
See you next time in why glimmers matter.
#glimmer #glimmers #youdeservejoy