More precious and more difficult to experience than the non ordinary. At least this is what I'm learning and repeating to myself daily. I guess this is some kind of a spiritual life - being able to experience this kind of peace. I woke up one morning and looked out and I could see feel every bit of light on every leaf. I felt this irreducible joy at just being. I felt totally in the moment with no thoughts in my head.
My youngest second hand designer bags australia child suffered devastating brain damage as a six month old baby due to a rare genetic condition, and as a consequence all of our lives were turned upside down. Careers we had worked towards for 15 years were lost; family relationships were redefined almost overnight. We found ourselves in an alien world of hospitals, therapists, uncertainty and worry, fighting fire after fire to keep him alive. He has changed all of us into kinder, more tolerant, just better versions of ourselves, attuned to the joy that is around us every day.
I'm satisfied, connected and joyful. I haven't had to travel far and its virtually free. I don't need much to feel this level of joy and l can tap into it anytime. My peek at full-blow joy comes in quick flashes as I sit with my dying friend.
Simplicity and contentment are the keys to joy. My childhood was a nightmare of abuse, neglect and an almost constant sense of uncertainty. I was well into my adulthood before I ever even dared to question that I might be worthy of joy. I had never really known it and the closest I could get to it was a temporary absence of sadness and rage. In my 30's I started therapy and counselling.
It includes choosing to participate in communal activities that are life giving. It includes celebrating other people’s joy. Joy is so much richer when shared with another or others.Yes, joy often can seem elusive and difficult to feel. I am pretty sure though that joy, like love, is all around us, even when we don’t feel it or are not being attentive to it. Thus, even in the darkest times I make the effort to seek joy. Even if sometimes it is a struggle.
Every smile from them is the greatest victory for me. Joy happens but cannot be sought out. Like you, perhaps, I am a lucky enough fellow, but still, joy seems out of reach some days.
And I just so happened to meet one of my new housemates at a comedy gig at a dive bar on Bourke St, and then through her got accepted into this incredible new place, owned by the amazing filmmaking son of a famous Australian architect. The night before, I heard from my ex that she had gotten engaged. Though very happy for her, it wasn't the most pleasant feeling.
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Afternoon thunder storms in Johannesburg. My extended family all live in Johannesburg and I have recently moved to another province. I miss them very much and being in their company always brings me joy. Shared laughs bring me joy, although the real thing can be rare to find.
A moment that many may consider insignificant and most would entirely miss, it created a profound shift in how I approach daily life. Simple patterns, lights, actions of people and daily observations in the smallest detail became my new normal. Beams of light through a tree casting shadows on a face or a wall. Wind that whistles as it passes through full branches.
As I’ve grown older I’ve found the most simple of things are what bring me joy. Moments of joy for me entail a complete feeling that blurs out the other senses and shamelessly takes up all the space in my brain. Often something that catches me off guard and makes me forget the hardship that is life sometimes, even when that seems so hard to escape. The unfair thing though, that I have only recently discovered, is that seeing the joy that does exist alongside the sadness and fullness of life, seems to be a privilege reserved for the happy few. It is so much easier to spot when in an elated state.
But I have 4 beautiful children and love comes in many forms. What has kept me alive has been the realisation that I am lucky to have my children. I have lived to the age of 58 and my dad died at 40. Jane Austen wrote about love and yet she didn't get the love that she wrote about.
I am moved to tears of joy by a crowd at a concert joining together to proclaim love without inhibition, singing with the performer, sharing the emotions of a song. I am moved to tears of joy at a football match, by a crowd celebrating a goal. I am moved to tears by the singing of the Marseillaise in the film Casablanca, because humanity will always rise up to protect what is important, liberty, equality, and the love of others. With joy in my soul, and love in my heart.
Joy for me is knowing in my soul that this is life in all its crazy madness, that the people around me are my people in my care and that love is the answer. On my 54th birthday I wanted to see the Emerald Lakes irl on the Tongoriro crossing in Aotearoa but to do that I would have to walk 20kms. Somewhere along the route my wairua (spirit) returned to my body. My energy was one with all existence. It was a good day out but as a city girl with urban tastes I swore I would never become one of those hikers who carries a pack and stays in huts on mountains with a bunch of snoring strangers.
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