The Joy.
This chapter explores joy. And sharing it.
Why is it often hard for us to choose joy, even in moments when there are no painful circumstances in our lives? Sometimes we simply do not know how. Many of our secular rituals of celebration and relaxation involve moving away from what is- numbing out, if only a little, with drugs or alcohol. As one of my students once said, "We don't seem to know very much about how to lighten up without numbing out." Music and dance are obvious exceptions to this, but in our culture we are too often only spectators and not participants in creating and moving to the sound of celebration.
I want to cultivate ways of celebrating joy in my life and I want to recognise and savour the moments of joy that come. I want to enjoy the full variety of pleasures life holds, even when some of those joys appear to others to be incompatible and contradictory.
"I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human."
~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer
So get up and dance.
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