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If you need a lot more joy in your life, come and live here. When I am happy, I enjoy it at most when I find the presence of mind to back away from wherever I am and whatever I am doing at that moment, and be able to just enjoy it. It exists and I am lucky to be a part of it. I cannot articulate the practice of joy better than R. S. Thomas ("The Bright Field").I have seen the sun break throughto illuminate a small fieldfor a while, and gone my wayand forgotten it.
I learned this early in my life and it has been a gift. A gift to remind myself constantly to find joy in things before 2nd hand bags me. Mundane things I would otherwise walk past while planning my day, thinking of chores yet to be done, boxes to tick. If we don’t stop and consciously see joy it is easily missed.
Don't Hesitateby Mary OliverIf you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,don’t hesitate. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very oftenkind. And much can never be redeemed.Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instantwhen love begins.
Faith helps, but also a shovel to dig. My joy lights up inside when my grown up children playingly, temporarily revisit their childhood, rolling around on the floor, wrestling, screaming, laughing. Moments of joy tend to show up when I’m helping someone, when I stand or walk in nature to notice life, the trees, the stillness, the sky. Occasionally I can seek joy by going to the ocean or the woods and being very present.
They reassured me we'd be back in just a day or two, so I packed the essentials (three changes of clothes, five changes of underwear, and an espresso pot) and followed them to Shreveport. At first we cheered, because the storm passed and left the city unharmed in its wake. It seemed that yes, we would be back in a few days. Shortly thereafter we watched, cracked open to the roots of ourselves, as the levy was breached and the engorged river swept into the shallow bowl that cupped New Orleans like hands. Much later we were to learn that CNN, after eyeballs rather than accuracy, was not making a distinction between floodwater to the rooftops and a few inches in the streets when they reported that "80% of New Orleans is flooded". Our neighborhood, blocks from the river and sitting atop the only natural high ground, had been spared.
I’m not a Christian, but knowing that I’ll find my entire pack waiting for me when I die another source of joy to me. Reading about animals saved from vivisection, live testing, intensive breeding situations or any kind of captivity gives me joy. Seeing nature rebalancing what we so insistently seek to destroy is joy to me.
I have had a long, difficult road to follow for the last year as my marriage of 34 years ended, and I didn't want it to. As such losses do, it gave me the brutal, wonderful, and inescapable task of confronting fears, looking hard at what matters, learning to see sky through pain, and accept love, support, and wisdom from where it is offered. And to be astounded at how kind people are.
People and conversations dole it out in tiny increments, but just enough to appreciate them. It's a single moment of harmony in a song, or a dog rolling on its back to show its belly. A moment of intimacy that could be as sweet and harmless as a smile with my partner. A fragile step forward after a moment of grief. Dammit, I can't put my finger on it, but I know it's there.
As a daughter of an alcoholic atheist scientist this is a huge deal for me. We often discuss them in my therapy. I find joy in appreciating and being grateful for my current life with my husband of 42 years who is less than perfect (like me). Every day there are so many great things in life! Cool people who know how to think, great travel around this incredible world, my dog, my house, etc., etc.
Sometimes we take him out to fields full of long grass and either my husband or I will hide in it and he (the hound) will go wild trying to find us. When he gets to us he does this mad thing of sort of eating the air. The game can of course be played in wooded areas.
So I find joy on the steps of a museum where I met a photographer with whom I speak for 5 minutes as if I knew him forever. I find joy thinking that a man loves me enough to sit calmlu through my panic. I find joy in thinking that I can be happy even if my body hurts me.
I came to see our relationship as a dance, where change is a natural part of our evolving paths.We focused on the love that remained, cherished the precious memories, and embraced forgiveness. We recently held a divorce ceremony to release each other from our vows and to share how we would continue to support one another. Although the healing process has been challenging, it has also been profoundly beautiful.That’s where my joy comes from when I hear your song. At first I thought of all the people, things, and events that brought me joy - but that didn't quite answer the question for me.Then I thought well, I seek out joy. I think I have come to the realization that I don't seek out joy, but I don't avoid it either. I do not avoid what may be averse situations either.
I have always felt sad that my little brother passed aged just 6yrs. I saved his life once but was unable to a second time. I thought about him everyday of my life from the moment he passed until now. I now know through my partner that he is just as much a mischievous little boy on the other side as he was this side, funny, charming and characteristic. He makes me laugh and smile, and though I'm a hell of a lot older now, he still recognises me, his big sister.
Being wholehearted is part of it, I think. I find when I am led to reassess experiences or feelings anew, which kind of opens me up to a novel facet of something I’ve seen before, but without fully concentrating/looking, it’s productive of joy. Then I feel I am attempting to realise my potential, and make myself worthy of the efforts of the world to sustain me, because I am not wasting it … for a little while, until the next time I settle and become too comfortable with living.