This Year, I'm Filling Downtime With Joy Using A Hat-Pulling Practice

The hardest part of my pandemic experience has been the "in-between" moments. You know, the ones after work but before dinner, when you're not really sure what to do with yourself. These quiet pauses are when fear and sadness like to pay me a little visit, reminding me of all that's still uncertain in this weird world.

It may sound a whole lot like a children's rhyme, but the Happy Hat is actually a slightly—slightly!—more adult version of kids' playtime.

The premise is simple: Fill a hat, jar, or vessel of your choosing with tiny pieces of paper. On each piece, write down an activity that you know will bring you a quick hit of joy and reacquaint you with the stuff that makes you smile.

Every time you pull a paper, you have to do the activity that's written on it! That's it. That's the whole shebang. There's something about the physicality of this practice that makes it so helpful. Once I see something written down, it feels less like a suggestion and more like a directive—and one that I'm always glad I did afterward.

There are infinite ways to spin the Happy Hat. You could fill yours with the names of things in nature (trees, flowers, clouds) and pull before heading out on a walk. Whatever you pull, be extra mindful of it on your outing. Or it would be fun to fill your hat with dishes that you want to make, then let your pull determine what's for dinner that night. Fearless chefs could even write down the name of a cookbook and a random page number—whatever is on that page, you cook! When workouts get stale, fill the hat with names of moves, and pull a few for an ad hoc movement routine. However you fill yours, I hope it serves as permission to take moments to yourself as they come this year.