Connecting Back To Our Joy

How does a weary world rejoice? How do we rejoice, how do we bring more of that beautifully grounded sense of joy in to our world especially when there is a lot of tough stuff going on around us.

So this week, I am bringing you some thoughts about joy that have helped me to understand more about this emotion.

1. I had a wall up. A flipping high, thick wall, that my dear friend kindly told me also had spikes on apparently! That wall was to protect me, it was to ensure that nobody got close enough to see what I saw. To see what I believed I was, that they would no longer be fooled with whatever mask I was wearing and they would see what I believed was the true me.

I didn’t want them to see the ‘I’m wrong and get things wrong’ story, my not good enough, my imposter syndrome feeling like a fraud. And yes, the wall did its job for a fair ol’ time. Until bit by bit I started to build up some self-belief and self-love and wanted to let more people in to my world. But it wasn’t easy. It was pretty darn terrifying at times taking that wall down. But what I found happened was that sure for all those years the wall had kept me safe, but the wall had also been keeping out love, joy, connection, belonging, true fun. As I started to take the wall down, brick by brick, I started to experience joy. Joy has become my favourite emotion. I love the sensations in my body, the groundedness, the expansiveness, the connection that comes with it…

2. Joy is different to happiness. In her book Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown talks about how happiness is something we strive for, work towards, it’s about the doing. Joy comes along at the randomest of times, when we least expect it, it may be shorter lasting, but jeepers it has a beautiful intensity to it.

3. Joy needs space. It can be very hard for joy to land when our lives are full, when we are caught up in worry and fear, when we are feeling disconnected, what could be some ways that you could create some space, some time to simply be, sure joy may not land straight away, but over time when she sees it is a safe space for her to land, she will visit.

4. Thoughts to ponder – What does joy feel like? What does joy look like? If I had more joy in my life I would… When I feel joy I notice… If I was to feel joy I would love it to feel like…

5. Ways to feel more joy. Open up, bringing in an expansiveness in to your physical body, can help to bring in and feel some of that space. Bring some colour in to your world, especially important for those reading this in the UK currently! How can you bring in the senses more through light, smells that bring you joy, items to touch that make you feel grounded, comfortable? What is something from younger years that you haven’t done for a while, can you give yourself permission to do it?