Joy—A Simple Primer for Complicated Times
Niki, Clementine & Spenser (by height)
This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.
Complicated can be a word
We could use
To describe this moment.
Along with other words—
Such as
Despairing,
Tragic,
Immoral.
Complicated can be one description.
How do we live during a time
Of so many feelings?
So many conflicting feelings.
I found myself walking down
A quiet little dirt road,
Little Nik at my side,
Sniffing and smelling and exploring,
Doing her job.
Me, doing my job/my un-job,
Breathing in the quiet and beauty
With a quiet, internal joy of being.
Suddenly
A gust of wind
Blew over me
And I was
Instantly swept
With reminders
Of the devastation that covers our planet,
The cruelty of civilian suffering,
The rise of authoritarian power.
How can I be walking in this peaceful
Gloriously beautiful Berkshire moment,
While all this unfolds?
How can we embrace all our feelings?
Without denying any of the other feelings,
How do we lean toward joy?
We deserve joy.
And happiness.
And serenity.
No matter what
Is happening
Around
Us.
How do we create
The circumstances
In which
Joy
Can
Emerge?
Surely not to deny the horror of this time.
Surely not to spiritually transcend them.
But to honor all of it,
To live
Without
Conflicting
Paradoxes.
How might we create the circumstances
In which that woosh of joy,
That energetic,
That body-centered,
That rush
Of feelings,
That opens
Us up,
That fills us up,
That flows through
And leaves
Us
Even
More alive?
~~~
Joy =
a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.
The feeling of joy may take two forms: passive and active. Passive joy involves tranquility and a feeling of contentment with things as they are.
(Psychology Today)
~~~
For me, for this wacky-foible-filled human—
For me, here are memories, moments, slivers of joy:
From yesterday–
Watching
Niki
And her friends
Spenser and Clementine
Run like the wind,
Around and around the field,
Flying and darting,
Jumping and swirling
Chasing and catching
Chased
And
Being
Caught.
Playing,
Freer
Than
Free.
From two hundred years ago–
Watching
Myself, age 12,
Catching that ground ball
In the JCC gym,
That
Magical catch,
I instantly
Threw it thoughtlessly
To first base
Two out!
We won!!
Rushes of joy
Physically
Flooded me.
Never to be
Forgotten.
~~~
We don’t create joy.
We don’t will it.
We don’t force it.
We create the circumstances
For joy
To emerge.
Joy is a gift,
A blessing
That
Tiptoes
Into our bodies
And
Wakes
Us up,
Leaving
Us
Even
More
Alive.
~~~
For me, for this wacky foible-filled- human—
For me, to create the circumstances specifically looks like:
- To get outside (essential!)
- To move my body (not-negotiable)
- To have consistency in my day
- To give myself consistency of mealtime, of wake and sleep times
- To be mindful about my intake of news
- To avoid disturbing images
- To hang out with my doggie
- To expand the limits of COVID previous restriction
- To imagine, to intend,
- To commit
- To being
- Open
- To
- The
- Joy.
~~~
Here are two joy-related opportunities for inspiration.
This first one, oh! I’ve watched it 30 times in three days. It cracks me up, but it’s so much more than funny. It is warm and alive and hopeful and ridiculous and possible—its energy betrays paradox, which is exactly what opens the door for the joy of my heart to filter in.
~~~
All feelings deserve our attention. All feelings want to be recognized. Sadness and joy, hopelessness and hope—as we try to shield ourselves from one, the others get muted and blocked.
Here is a brilliant scene from the Pixar movie, Inside, Out. The two characters, Joy and Sadness both comfort Bing Bong in different ways. Check it out below:
~~~
Dear Friends,
Do you have any specific
Joyful memories?
From yesterday?
From decades ago?
What circumstances do you need to create
In your life,
Into which joy
Might flow?
~~~
Dear Friends,
No matter the feelings,
No matter the moment,
May the highest unfold
For all.
One moment at a time,
May we continue
To practice.
Best, Aruni