Did you pause to savour something delicious today? Or notice the sunlight through a window? Those are glimmers, micro-moments of joy so brief they’re easy to miss, yet powerful enough to lift our spirits when we need it most. Daily Glimmers by Bridget McNulty is a pocket-sized companion that teaches us to notice the fleeting, three-second sparks of joy that can shift our mood and strengthen our resilience.
In Daily Glimmers, Bridget McNulty gathers hundreds of these moments, offering gentle reminders that joy doesn’t always come from grand gestures, but from the smallest details of our daily lives. Part inspiration, part practice, this beautifully illustrated little book is designed to slip into your bag and expand the way you see the world. Here is an excerpt.
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Joy despite
What truly brought slices of joy alive for me was this edge of darkness they hint at. It’s not joy through rose-tinted glasses, pretending that nothing bad is going on in the world. It’s not ostriching yourself from reality, or cutting yourself off from people who are having a hard time. It’s not judging yourself when you’re struggling or when life is legitimately hard. It’s joy despite. Despite the fact that things are going wrong all the time and everything is terrible. Or maybe because of it.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-Nature-Glimmer-3-Rockpool.jpg "Nature glimmer. (All illustrations by Lauren Fowler)")
The truth is that although the world can be awful and terrible (and a quick glance at the news will confirm that it is awful and terrible in 1,001 different ways), it is also hopeful and beautiful. Humans are making unthinkable, unfathomable decisions every day. And yet, humans are also wonderful, kind and generous. There are tiny glimmers, despite it all.
Glimmers are fleeting and impermanent, and it’s hard to know when they will visit or when they will leave. But isn’t that a metaphor for life? You are gifted this one life, and you don’t know how long it will be, but you have this day, today. By treasuring each experience as a maybe-last-time, you’re more able to appreciate it. By recognising that your life is not endless, you can see the beauty in the small things.
And that’s really what this book is about. If there’s one thing I have learnt how to do — through diabetes, grief, work and parenting — it’s to find the lightness in the everyday. No matter how ordinary and dull you might think your life is, it is peppered with these jewels of pleasure and joy, just waiting to be noticed.
Glimmers can change your life
Hunting for glimmers and slices of joy is the most low admin way to improve your life. They don’t cost anything or add anything to your To Do list. You’re probably experiencing them already without noticing. Did you just take a sip of tea and think, “Mmm …”? That’s a slice of joy. Get a sweet message from a friend? There’s another. Stretch and feel your muscles release? Lovely!
Because they’re so brief and fleeting, these small moments are easy to miss — they’re the kind of thing that pass by unnoticed unless you’re really looking for them. Finding and noticing glimmers — on the commute to work or while doing daily tasks — is an art, a skill and a practice. Looking for glimmers isn’t a distraction from life; it’s a coping method. It’s a mental health practice to enable you to deal with the darkest days.
This book outlines how to notice glimmers, and why it’s so important for your wellbeing. It’s a practical, useful way to start feeling better about your life, no matter what it looks like right now.
Life is often hard, and happiness can be elusive. Joy, though, is accessible in even the darkest moments, if you know how to look for it. Let’s look for it, together. Every day.
How to find glimmers every day
I know that it can be hard to access an appetite for joy sometimes. Real Life can be so drudgy and filled with washing up to do, appointments to make and tasks to complete that it can be difficult to know where to even start looking for glimmers. That’s why the goal here is: one glimmer a day.
One three-second moment where you think, “Ah ... that’s nice.” You’re not aiming for marvellous or wonderful or fantastic… simply nice.
A few of the daily glimmers…
Tiny self-seeded plants
There are few things in life that seem as miraculous to me as a tiny self-seeded plant. A gentle stalk and budding leaves growing out of the pavement, a teeny lavender that’s been blown on the wind and taken root or a new miniature succulent emerging where a piece was broken off the original (my personal favourite). The miracle of plants forging ahead and creating new life is so hopeful, and such a testament to resilience.
Similar glimmers:
The wind whispering through leaves.
Opening the windows wide to let in fresh spring air.
The smell of dinner cooking.
It’s been a long day. You’re pretty tired, pretty hungry and a little weary, to be honest. And then you smell dinner cooking, and it all melts away. The promise of a delicious meal, some downtime, a moment to press pause... Thank heavens.
Similar glimmers:
The waft of cake-scented air when you take a tray of cupcakes out of the oven.
The scent of fresh rosemary: a little spicy, a little surprising.
Putting on a pair of new socks.
Songs should be written about That New Sock Feeling. The satisfaction of pulling up the socks and having them stay exactly where they should be. The softness of the sock itself. The freshness of knowing they’ve never been worn. The happy feeling they give your feet, toes wiggling merrily inside their new home. It doesn’t last, of course, but perhaps that’s part of the pleasure, knowing that it’s fleeting…
Similar glimmers:
Freshly shaved cheeks.
Cosy slippers. More specifically, that moment you slip your feet inside them.
An enthusiastic meeting.
So many meetings are perfunctory or a little boring. But every so often you chance upon the unicorn of meetings: everyone is enthusiastic, the subject matter is valid and important, and it feels as if actual decisions have been made that will effect change. It’s like paddling a canoe with your hands, and then suddenly being given an oar.
Similar glimmers:
Workshopping that works (unusual, but beautiful).
That lightbulb feeling when you solve a problem.
Stroking a purring cat.
The way the purring seems to resonate throughout their whole furry body and into your hand and thereby into you. The deep and profound comfort. The love.
Similar glimmers:
Watching a dog chase its tail.
Throwing a stick (or a ball) for a dog: the glee!
Golden hour
The day has come to an end. It’s the golden hour: the hour when photos look their best and capture people with an inner glow. The hour when you get to pause, exhale and regroup.
Similar glimmers:
Birdsong at dusk.
Cicadas singing on a summer night. DM