Sparking Joy
Fire. Pizza. Deep friendship.
Setting the stage. Inviting and hosting. Offering opportunities for connection.
All these are joys of mine, shared by Drew. Our home reflects and serves these values.
[Can we call pizza a value? I think so.]
The values of friendship, hospitality, and connection are woven in our lives.
Several years ago, Drew designed and built our patio with a wood-burning pizza oven. It feeds my love for both fire and pizza, and creates a space for hosting gatherings.
Since it’s been finished, we’ve had many, many pizza parties. For all kinds of reasons and occasions:
Graduation parties
Birthdays
Book clubs
Mother’s Day
School groups
Youth groups
Study groups
Family game nights
Friends visiting from out of town
or
Just because
If we have a reason to celebrate,
or a desire to gather,
a pizza party is often the answer.
Drew makes the dough the day before, so it can rest and rise for the best taste and texture. We arrange sauce, cheese, and toppings into an assembly line. Friends arrive, adding to the assortment of toppings. I shape the dough into individual crusts, and each person decorates their own pie. The pizzas are slotted onto a rack and when everyone has created one, Drew starts to cook.
If the weather is nice, we all hang out on the patio, watching as the pizzas are slid in and out of the oven, chatting and anticipating. They cook in as little as 90 seconds, and suddenly we are all eating and groaning with that distinctive oh-wow-this-is-so-yummy sound.
So much happens when we make and eat meals together:
Conversations, from get-to-know-you to deep Qs & debates
Laughter, born of celebrating & delighting in one another
Tears, from sad good-byes & overflowing, grateful hearts
Joy, from being with loved ones & savoring the beauty of nature
Nourishment, for our bodies & for our souls
Pizza parties spark joy in the truest sense of the phrase!
The things we use for our pizza parties also spark joy, because they work well and serve us well, making these gatherings possible.
Hospitality. Connection. Friendship.
These underlying values direct our choices to own:
3 pizza cutters—each a different style—many reusable plastic cups, and a really good food processor (that can handle making batch after batch of dough.)
When you declutter and organize your home by asking
“Does this spark joy?”
it goes deeper than bringing surface order to your objects and spaces.
It’s about the Why? of your choices,
it’s about your values,
it’s about the person you want to be,
and the life you want to live.
Tell me:
Who do you want to be?
How do you want to live?
What sparks joy for you?
