It might seem like finding tiny moments of joy at work is a lot to ask for, but once you know where to look (and you know why they’re so important) you’ll soon become a “glimmer” hunter. Writer, Diabetes advocate and Author of Daily Glimmers, Bridget McNulty tells us how…
Work might not seem like the most obvious place to find joy. Between emails, deadlines and back-to-back meetings, where’s the space for lightness? But that’s exactly what makes the idea of “glimmers” so powerful: Those fleeting, feel-good moments that often pass by us unnoticed, unless we know to look for them. And when we do, they can change how we experience our day, our work and even ourselves. Bridget shares her guide to understanding and incorporating glimmers as a ritual into your everyday life, as well as how to find glimmers at work.
The art of finding tiny joys
So much of life is about perspective, isn’t it? You wake up on the right side of the bed and you can easily forgive the impatient commuters and grumpy coffee guy. You wake up on the wrong side of the bed and the whole world is out to get you. Noticing glimmers; tiny, three- second moments that lift your spirits, small slices of joy works to shift your perspective, just slightly. And turning this noticing into an art and a daily practice helps to re-orientate your perspective enough so that life becomes just a little bit easier, a little bit smoother, slightly more joyful. How to make glimmers a regular part of your day The trick with making glimmers a practice is to lower your bar for delight. We’re not talking about big, wonderful things here; it doesn’t have to be something that makes your day or leaves you feeling fantastic. All we’re aiming for is nice. You’re thirsty and take a sip of cold water? “Oh, that’s nice”. You get up from your desk and stretch your arms over your head? “That feels nice”. You hug someone you love? “So nice.” What happens is, as you lower your bar for glimmers, is that you notice them everywhere, because they are everywhere.
Every day, all around us, we are surrounded by tiny beautiful moments, it’s just that they’re so ordinary we don’t pay them any attention. Once you start paying attention, you can choose how to make glimmers a daily practice:
- Write down your daily glimmer in a notebook each day.
- Send a pic to a friend each time you notice one (or start a WhatsApp group documenting glimmers).
- Instead of gulping down your morning tea or coffee, spend a moment thinking about your day and what glimmers might await (in fact, I wrote Daily Glimmers exactly for this purpose)
- Make it so easy that you aren’t tempted to let it slide. Fold it into every day so that it becomes just another habit.
Why glimmers matter
It’s not just about wearing rose-tinted glasses, though. Each time you notice a glimmer, it sends a message to your nervous system to tell your body that it can relax. These micro moments of regulation are so important because they activate the parasympathetic nervous system and signal to your body that it is safe. In our over-stressed, over-busy, over-burdened lives, these signals are essential for mental health. They are small moments of rest amid the stress of a busy day, brief respites of calm for an overstimulated nervous system. And they’re free, easy and all around you every day.
Finding glimmers at work
When you think of glimmers, you might not immediately think to look for them at work; your mind probably goes to people you love, your pet, or delicious food or weekend activities. But there is such joy to be found in work, both in your interactions with colleagues and in the act of work itself. Think of the (tiny) fun of birthday cake in the office, when most adults turn into five-year-olds again, just for a minute, singing and licking icing off their fingers. Or the (small but profound) delight of meeting an online colleague in real life and realising that you like each other so much more in person (although they’re never the height you thought they were). Then there’s the slice of joy of being eloquent in a meeting. It’s not a given, never a given, but so sweet when it actually happens. And finishing a project knowing you did your best. Similarly, when hard work is recognised (because it so often isn’t), it feels like such an accomplishment. Conversely, when a meeting is cancelled on a busy day, it is such sweet relief. None of these moments are epic or life-changing and that’s the point. We’re not aiming for epic, we’re aiming for tiny. Just a few seconds of relief from the otherwise busy whirl of the day. Finding a glimmer offers us the gift of tiny joys in the midst of everyday life. A moment of brightness to lift the spirits.
Daily Glimmers (2025) is published by Penguin Random House South Africa and is available for R320 at most book retailers.
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