joy

photo by Patrick Selin from Unsplash

“To be Y O U in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” - Joseph Campbell

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”-Rumi. 

I’ve been thinking about joy the last couple of days; what causes it, how it moves through the body, and how to make more of it.

Joy can spring from spontaneity; a quiet surprise. Or a smile at the corner of the lips after sensing, tasting, hearing something sweet. Like Shana telling me that when she looks at my husband, she can’t help but see a young boy in a cereal commercial. The freckles!

It feels like something is moving in the right direction. It can be elation, enthusiasm, creative inspiration or a more simple contentment. It often seems to contain freedom. Joy feels like being in service and living in alignment with a deeper purpose and meaning. And Joy is not the absence of pain, it exists because of it.

It is so pretty out, the temperature, perfect. The breeze tickles my skin and stirs the wind chimes. I am reminded and deeply thankful for friends that make me laugh and those I can count on when chaos ensues. I remember days when I felt lonely here, out of the loop, disconnected, and am thankful to not feel this way at the moment. Joy thrives on presence, connection, acceptance, and engagement.

Sometimes life makes sense. Often times, it doesn’t. But when it does, it is the sun, peeking through windows, settling in the sky with a bed of colors rich and stunning. It is the sun rising in our chests, rays reaching out to others through hugs and understanding. Kristi reminds me of the simple blessing that the sun gives us. Every day, a constant. Something to rely on and give thanks to for its steady, glowing, and sustaining presence. No matter what, it comes up in the morning, even when we can’t see it, and goes to sleep every night.

A spontaneous, “Mom, I love you”, from my little one.

How joy resides, swims and floats in our bodies, our hearts and heads, matters. How it moves through us dancing like specks of light on water, like bees in a Mimosa tree, like stars falling out of the sky. How we cultivate more joy by savoring it when it happens without grasping for it or holding on too tight. And knowing it is okay when feeling joy to feel fear too because we love so openly and so deeply.

We write our stories and tell them the way we see, feel, hear, and embody them. It is our choice. And we make up the rules as we go. We do it our way even if our way is different from the way before or different from all of the ways around us.

Joy is not the absence of struggle, it is glimmers of hope and peace in the midst of it.

Giving ourselves permission to feel free and to live our way cultivates joy. The world thrives on diversity, on our unique magic, on our innate and eternal wisdom. The sun within.

And don’t worry if joy eludes you at the moment, it will reappear again. As my friend, Kristi, also reminds me and often, “just ride the wave.”

And when joy swells again, welcome it with wide, expansive, tree branch like arms, give it a hug, and do what you can to make more of it because our lives depend on it.

Joy and you are both three letter words. Be you and there will be joy.