Joy, Gratitude, & HeARTfelt Tokens

A coupleish weeks ago, I read the words, "How do you find joy?"

However, a week later I ran across the  question again and realized my brain had mis-remembered the question. I had turned "How do you find joy?" into "What brings you joy?"

When I realized my mind had made the switch from "how" to "what," I thought,

Those are two different questions. In one I'm looking/searching for joy. The other is more passive, for lack of a better word; something brings me joy even though I may not be looking for it. If I'm aware in that moment, I'll recognize it and my heart will be uplifted.

I think at the top of my list for "how" is:

• Bringing to my mind's eye scenes from my good memory bank and feeling the scene in my heart. I often tell my self, "I did that,'" or "That really happened."

The "how," (which is also the "what") also brought to mind Victor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, and part of how he survived the camps. If I recall correctly, three of the things he engaged were good memories from his life before the camps, doing pick-up theatre and singing with his fellow prisoners in their quarters as long as mean guards weren't around, and watching sunsets and/or sunrises.

All this pondering got me to thinking of how joy feels. 

How does one describe joy?

Gratitude always seems a part of joy.

Other feelings that came to mind regarding joy are awe, wonder, largeness of life, freedom to be and to give and to receive. I may be expanding it too far, but it's fun to think about.

Some of my whats are:

• Riding my bike through woods and meadows and fields.
• Nature. Wildlife. Trees. Creeks and rivers and rocks of all sizes. Sky and clouds and the heavens.
• Hearing from my adult children. Sharing conversation & memories. Roasting marshmallows around a campfire.
• Music. Dancing with the rhythms. Singing along. Making up songs. Playing my drum or tapping out beats with my fingers and feet. 
• Peoples' stories. From serendipitous meetings with "strangers." From friends and family and history of all sorts. Every day life stories and stories of survival and endurance in the face of overwhelming hardships.
• Good memories. Not just thinking about them, but feeling them. Going back into the scene. Savoring them. Sometimes they prompt me to action. "Get up and go ride your bike Carol. Or call Son or Daughter. Or just go be with nature. You'll feel better for it."

As serendipity would have it, about an hour after I wrote the above on May 18th, 2021, I read the paragraph below, written by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. It's an excerpt from the Foreward of the book The Fear Cure by Lissa Rankin, M.D. 

...The opposite of fear is joy. I had thought that joy was the same as happiness, but joy is far more durable than happiness. The capacity for joy seems to come from an unconditional relationship to life, a willingness to show up and meet with whatever is there. It is an openness that takes us beyond the wish to control life to the capacity to celebrate life. It moves us from an adversarial relationship toward life to the experience of mystery and wonder which is at the heart of life. Ultimately it can heal us... 

~Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. 

~*~*

Around my home and in my car, I keep heartful tokens -- small inanimates, which aren't small to my heart -- to help me along my journey of life. Reminders. 

This morning (5/20/21) as I performed my balance and strengthening stretches, I was again reminded of joy. On my wall is my focal point when doing certain stretches.

It's a combo of two different art pieces hanging on the same wall-nail:

1. A wood-burning & macrame that I made some 40+ years ago
2. A "Mosaic WHIMSEY" by Art-o-mat artist Janie Reavis-Cox

And while doing my stretches this morning accompanied by music from one of my Pandora stations, this song came on.  My joy and my gratitude merged quite nicely. :)