Off the beaten track…
Needing some adventure, exploring and time out at the weekend, I took myself off on a walk.
There was the option of a 2-3 hour hike one way, or a one-kilometre circuit loop. Although heart and soul felt good to be out, body was weary, so acknowledging energy levels, I opted for the one-kilometre circuit loop.
I don’t know if it was actually described as easy, or whether I just thought that compared to the other track, it would be easier!
Anyhoo, I set off.
It was on private land, so it wasn’t the sort of well-looked-after path you might expect on more public tracks, which was absolutely fine. I was up for the adventure.
The intention I’d set for this walk was to go joy spotting.
The walk was through bush, so it wasn’t like I was going to be looking out for big views or anything like that. It was simply – Where can I spot the joy?
It was beautiful! There were heart shapes. Dewdrops. Bright, bright green amongst the darker patches. Fungi. A whole family of fungi. (They were hilarious!)
There were lots of streams to make my way over, and I’d stop to watch the tiny waterfalls bubbling away. Fantails a plenty dancing infront of me.
I was having a lovely time.
Then I got to a bigger crossing, where two bigger streams came together. This had very much been talked about in the description of the walk, so I had a look around for where to go next.
I couldn’t see any more arrows. Which made me realise that the arrows I’d been following… I didn’t even know if they were the arrows I was meant to be following!
On the other side of the river, it looked like there was a bit of a path. So I made my way across and up the steep bank.
What looked like a path petered out pretty quickly. I was also aware that I’d gone out of phone signal.
Remembering that it had said it was a circuit loop, I kept looking for where the path was meant to continue. On family holidays when we would do walks, we very much went for circuits rather than having to go back on ourselves, and I guess that had become ingrained in me!
Then there was a point where I was holding onto a tree as I made my way back down the bank, thinking:
Okay. This isn’t the path.
And then:
Oh. This tree is a bit soft.
I slipped.
I grabbed tighter onto the very soft tree, which thankfully, despite being soft managed to stop my slip going any further…
It felt like, okay, we just need to be a bit serious here now.
The phone I’d been using to take pictures of the joy had already gone away.
I decided to retrace my steps back down the river across to where I’d met it the first time.
And when I saw the path in front of me, I could feel my whole body relax again.
But no, there was one more moment!
The biggest rock, pretty much the last rock I’d used to get down and back across the river, must have been balanced precariously on the rock underneath it, because it shifted as I stepped off it – Phew! A final little hurrah for my nervous system.
And then I was back on solid ground and a path.
During the time of the detour, which probably sounds far more dramatic that it was, and which probably wasn’t actually very long, still, I realised I wasn’t noticing joy.
That had stopped. Things had got serious. I was concentrating. Making a plan. Working out the next step. Finding my way back to the familiar.
And once I was back on the path, the joy spotting could resume – And it literally did. As soon as I had got off the precarious rock, I noticed this incredible shimmering as the light bounced off the water and onto the green bushes. It was so magical!
As I continued the circuit and made my way back, it got me reflecting on how this was such an illustration of what happens to joy.
Life gets busy. We can spend periods of time in survival mode, either knowingly or unknowingly.
There is routine, and there are roles and responsibilities. Seriousness and adulting creep in.
What I loved about this experience was just how clear-cut it was.
Joy spotting, joy spotting, joy spotting.
Then – I’m not quite sure where I’m going. I need to concentrate on finding the next step and the direction I’m heading. No joy.
Then I got safe again. I felt safe again.
And I was able to pick up the joy.
This is not about juding ourselves about the times we go through everyday life not spotting joy, or not feeling joy.
Life absolutely happens.
But we can become more aware of what’s going on.
And when we bring in our body, heart, soul, mind and spirit to help clear the pathway to our joy, we can begin to notice it far more often. Because there absolutely would have been joy present during the time of me being lost, but I was not in a place to notice it…
This is what Full of the Joys is all about.
It’s a seven-day online group experience that is not about adding more to your to-do list, or filling up your calendar (unless you want it to!) or is it about becoming yet another thing you’ve got to fit into your day.
It’s about clearing the pathway.
Finding the clues about your joy.
And beginning to notice more of the joy around you…
I would love to have you with us, and I promise I know where I am going!
Keen for some more joy in your world, you can download 100 ways to say yes to life.
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