Recognizing Joy...

And some mornings I awake at three thirty.... and now it's five... so I got up and ate half an apple, and am very close to taking a nap....

One topic my mind has drifted to recently, in those quiet times, where the subcaverns of my mind is activated, but yet I am only half aware of it is Joy.... this is not a new topic... but I come back to it on occasion...

This may be humorous to some because I have been told that when I am serious or thinking my face appears almost angry, when that is not even what is going on in my head...

But yet there are many who are not happy with where they are, in their circumstances of life and it reflects outwardly to others...

I love the quote that says "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family."  It is rather simple yet reminds us to the find joy frequently.

Our circumstances may not be ideal or what we even want them to be... but that is not always bad... sometimes even those littler pursuits or goals in working towards the greater destination can create the inward joy of overcoming. Yet no inward movement creates a feeling of lifeless stagnation...

So what can produce or create joy? Ultimately, I would argue that most feelings of joy are discovered via a form of gratitude. This joy and gratitude can be displayed and experienced in so many ways..



Think of nature to illustrate this concept... When was the last time you paused with the recognition of gratitude and joy outside in nature... Think of spring after a long winter, when at last the blossoms pop out... Or recall that warm breeze as you gaze into the sunset of a late summer evening...  Maybe the it is the smell of the cool crisp breeze as the vibrant red and orange maple leaves crunch beneath your feet as you stroll through the canyon.  Is it found in the pause and appreciate of the small featherlike flakes as they glimmer in the sunlight creating a pure, still blanket of white around you? There is a joyful rejuvenation that comes from being out in nature... do you experience it regularly?

Another dimension where this 'awareness of joy' is cultivated in me, is through appreciation of different mediums of art... I look at photos or paintings of places and people and in draws me in, with the desire to know more, be there, understand the culture, experience that place as it is depicted. It is as though a story has been placed before me, yet I want to know the "whys" of the intricate details... (Even earlier this week, I asked a friend about his art, and wanted to know more about his subjects).... Maybe this joy comes from recognizing that if we allow it, art has a way of transporting us into a place where we otherwise may not have gone... or to be with those, we, by no other means or ways would have met... in places that to us remain a mystery...

Maybe these depictions are not even a mystery, but have a way of recalling in a distant, but pleasant memory...cultivating gratitude for experience of the past to where we are, now in the present...

Music can have that same transporting ability...wether it be watching the unity of so many instruments within an orchestra play their part... or hearing the simple keys of a piano with a melody that is almost visualized, but yet the melody echoes and resonates beyond our head to our soul....

The last element I will explore (before my nap) is that of other individuals. Do you recognize how sometimes, with you the right people you feel a quiet calm sense of peace and acceptance? Maybe it is because they have a way of building you up, helping you recognize the potential and opportunities within you. Or perhaps it is just the simple light that they illuminate the room with from their eyes? You leave their presence with a renewed desire to be better... Each and every one of us can learn and grow from those around us, yet do we step back and experience it?

So inwardly I invite you to think of where you are? Are you embracing with gratitude the joys of where you are? Might I suggest a step back to view the full picture and a look up in awe of where you are to offer a prayer of gratitude...

~