Do you believe in the wisdom of Joy?
Joy’s not a destination you trudge towards through valleys of misery.
Joy is the path.
Joy is your guide.
Joy is the clean air you breathe, the water you drink, and the birdsong you hear as you travel.
Joy is the life-force.
It’s our birthright. A child laughs in delight at the smallest things, and only later learns such behaviour is ‘foolish’.
They’re taught to ‘put aside foolish things’.
Who teaches a child to make joy conditional?
Some believe Joy belongs in an afterlife, not the here-and-now. Joy must be earned by hard-work and suffering.
That’s just a story — and not a very good one.
Capitalism tells us to be dissatistfied. We’re told to buy joy.
It not true.
Joy is immediate and simple.
It’s connection.
It’s recognition.
It’s awe.
It’s creation.
It’s gratitude.
Joy’s not a treat we’re allowed once or twice a year, paid for by daily dissatisfaction. It’s water, air and a child’s laugh. It’s waiting for us, our birthright as free individuals in a more-than-human world.
I’m not always joyful though.
That would be impossible and probably unpleasant. Good food is wonderful, but you’d not want to spend every hour of the day eating.
Life is joy and struggle. They’re interconnected.
Maya Angelou puts it so well:
‘What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.’
Sometimes things are shit. Pretending they’re not — that everything is ‘perfect in this most perfect of worlds’ — is toxic positivity, pointless self-deception.
When things are shit, work to change them.
When change isn’t possible — only then — change how you think about what’s happening. Look for the positive. Engage with longterm Joy (knowing you’re moving towards a more fulfilling way of living) instead of focusing on short-term struggle.
Take responsibility for the experience of your life.
As Maya Angelou puts it: ‘don’t complain’.
This is a tough message. We like to complain. It’s how we avoid responsibility.
There’s often much to complain about, but complaining makes you complicit with the problem. It makes you a powerless victim of the system you’re in.
Instead, act.
Change what you can.
Change your thinking about what you can’t.
There’s more truth in a child’s laugh than in all the adverts you’ll ever see.
Liberate your joy.
My free guide to Self-With-Others is available now. It’s an 8-week email journey giving you insights and tools to live more joyfully. www.subscribepage.io/swointroduction