discovering joy

image from Jamie Ridler, www.jamieridlerstudios.ca

Today I am diving into the Next Chapter discussion on Martha Beck’s The Joy Diet.  I’ll be joining a circle of others to explore joy week by week and chapter by chapter. (You can join us, if you’d like; it’s open to all!)  

What brings me to this group?  Curiosity.  And definitely a desire to explore what joy means to me.  How is it different than happiness or fun or pleasure?  How do I want to define joyful living?  How do I reclaim joy when I can feel it seeping away at times?  Does it ebb and flow?  And what brings me joy right now?  

So here I am.  Starting with more questions than answers.

And that’s a good thing, I think.

As an advocate for women who have experienced personal power-based violence, as well as a coach for advocates who work in shelters and rape crisis centers, I see first-hand how joy can trickle out of our lives.  How really big and horrible things can zap it away in an instant.  I hear how joy seeps slowly out of my clients from week to week as they take on the world’s ugly realities.  They sometimes feel as if joy will never ever return.  And yet, I truly truly believe that it is possible–for all of us!–to cultivate joy even in the midst of the uglies.  To nurture it along and protect it and grow it.

So with all my curiosity and questions, I am diving in.  To be in the process myself of re-discovering.   

Our first chapter is about doing nothing.  And so I’m off.  To do nothing.  To sit with my questions and let them soak in and roll around a bit.  To hear what my soul already knows about joy.  To be reminded.  Stay tuned!