Joy

Years ago when I started this journey, before I even took my yoga teacher training I did the Brene Brown course "Daring Greatly" . One of the first things we did was choose words for our sign post. The words I chose were Compassion and Joy. If I am feeling those two things I am on the right path. In the past I am talked a lot about compassion. We've chanted Karuna Hum, or I am compassion in sanskrit. I want to talk about joy.

The topic has shown up a as a discussion point this week for me. A friend I met through a hemianopsia support group, who lost half of her sight through a brain tumour surgery rather than a haemorrhage like me. And her cancer has returned. And she wrote this beautiful blog post about finding joy. You can read it here if you want.

And my cousin shared this the other day. And it was a reminder too. Happiness, contentment and joy is a choice in some ways. Like having an optimistic point of view rather than pessimistic. When I find my mood dropping this is my practice, to choose to look for joy. To be aware of it all around us all the time.

I turn fifty in 5 days. I am delighted to have made it this far. I often think of the last 7 years as a gift that I almost didn’t get. This is the choice in looking for joy. Later this afternoon I will walk to the grocery to pick up celery. I can walk there by myself. I can cook that celery in soup that will nourish me and my husband. I will pass through the off leash park and will likely get to pet a new friend. This is all joy.

We have a quiet choice in how we interpret things and gratitude, love and joy are the filters that I choose to see things through. Then everything feels a little better and easier.

This month we chant:

Om Shri Anandaye Namaha

I bow to the bliss within. You already are complete. Things are exactly how they are. What a gift it is. We can drop into this inner state of bliss at anytime. It is a practice. It is a choice. You can here me chant it 108 times here.

I am not saying depression isn't a thing. I am not saying we are never sad. I am not saying that everything is fantastic, but we can't live in just one experience. When we find ourselves stuck in a place, especially sadness, grief, anxiety, helplessness... sometimes we need medication to get out, absolutely, but exploring the way we think about the world and how we experience it is important too. Reach out if you are suffering, even if it is to me. You are not alone. And I encourage everyone to make time to notice the little joys that are around us all the time. The things we might skip over or ignore. Because they are small. Ordinary. And I love them.