As an unrepentant logophile (lover of words), I’ve assembled a list of unusual, obscure, or simply charming-to-me words. Ludic is defined as “playful, in an aimless way,” and that’s my plan for approaching this a-to-z challenge—keeping my feet on the joy trail and meandering wherever the daily word takes me.
X is for…
“Xaipe” (χαῖρε in Greek) is an ancient Greek salutation that translates to “Rejoice!” or “Be Glad!” and is used as a greeting or farewell, similar to “hello” or “goodbye”.
I think a lot about joy. And today feels like a perfect day to greet you with Xaipe, and speak about joy.
So what is joy? The dictionary defines it as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation. Words actually seem sort of lame in trying to define joy, but we’ve all experienced joy and know what it is. So maybe words aren’t really necessary.
One of my favorite quotes about joy is something Buffy Saint Marie said: “You have to sniff out joy. Keep your nose to the joy trail.” I love that image and it makes me laugh, which in itself is joyful; but that’s not how I understand joy.
This is what I believe about joy: joy is a spiritual path. The more you learn about joy, the more you discover the truth of who you really are, what is sacred, and what your life is really for.
It would be disingenuous (or worse) to pretend that these aren’t collectively challenging times. There are countless issues and people that need our attention, our action, our support. But here’s the thing: Joy doesn’t have to be a random thing, or an only-occasional peak experience thing. The truth is that joy is always available to us. Always. I believe that.
Joy is an energy stream. I invite you to really take that in and consider it. Joy is an energy stream – an ever-unfolding stream of energy.
What do I mean by that? I mean it literally – a flow of energy that’s always here, always available to us, always available for us to enter in; a vibration we can attune to and entrain to.
Sometimes I like visuals with my thoughts, so I invite you to picture this. Think of a big sun – and maybe you want to consider this Divine Source/All-That-Is, or maybe you don’t – it doesn’t matter at all. Just think of the rays of this sun extending in all directions. Let’s pick one ray – this is our joy ray. Streaming down. Pure vibration. Pure energy. Picture yourself standing in it – in the delicious vibration of joy – flowing over you, around you, through you.
We can choose to stand in this energy stream. We can choose to allow it to flow through us.
Joy does not come and go – our awareness of it does. That’s a pretty exciting thought, isn’t it?! Joy is always available to us!
Sometimes, when people start considering this, critical voices emerge with messages like, ‘Isn’t that kind of naïve or Pollyannaish to think we can dip into joy regularly? ‘ In fact, isn’t it kind of selfish for me to want more joy, have more joy, when it seems like so many around me are suffering and miserable?
I don’t think it’s helpful to ignore or pretend those kind of messages don’t exist, but right now I think we should begin to look at why joy is important, and then you can decide whether you should go all out for it or not. And you should keep in mind that Joy is a bountiful limitless energy stream and there is more than enough for everyone. No need to hold back. Allow yourself to receive as much as you can take in, and know that you can stretch to receive more. And as with all things, when you are filled, you can spill your excess around you, adding to the stream for others to share in as well.
What are some of the reasons to consider why you might want more joy?
- It just feels good. Who doesn’t want to feel good?
- It positively affects our physiology. When we’re experiencing joy we release stress, our immune systems are strengthened, endorphins are released – all kinds of good things.
- Joy raises our vibration and that helps us shift.
- Everyone deserves joy. It’s a given. You don’t earn it. Or unearn it. Being open to the flow of joy does not mean life is this unimaginable utopian dream. We all live lives that bring us challenges, bring us sadnesses, bring us all manner of experiences. But the thing is, when we allow ourselves to know joy is always available to us, joy is not hidden away, we have the capacity to face everything with greater ease and grace.
- And then, I believe, there’s the bigger picture from our Higher Self’s perspective. It’s my belief that each one of us chose to be present, here and now, in a physical body. We chose embodiment so we could create, express and experience in the physical. And definitely part of what we’re called to do is flow and anchor higher vibrational energies. I like to think of us as vertical bridges – accepting higher vibrations from above, flowing them through our particular nuanced container and releasing them outward. Each one of us adds our light, our gifts, our contributions to the collective whole so that energy can be drawn upon. We are ever-evolving beings.
- I also believe tapping into joy and adding it to the collective is important because it is one of the easiest ways for us to access Unity Consciousness. Fear, judgment, and separation are what we need to release, and we certainly have exponentially huge amounts of those energies in our collective right now.
So there – if you don’t want to ramp up your joy quotient for yourself, perhaps you can consider immersing yourself in it for the good of the collective. Doesn’t that sound like a wonderful assignment?
I’d love to hear your thoughts – do share. Are you a member of the joy tribe? What things bring you joy? Do you think Xaipe is a lovely way to greet someone, or leave them with a little blessing to color their day?
Another new one to me.
While the word may be new, I hope the meaning is well-known and often present for you, Jamie.
The older I get the more joyful I feel. I think it’s mostly my contentment and current decent-for-my-age health. Not the same kinds of stress as when I was younger and that allows more room for recognizing joy.
I do think of joy a lot also because my closest sister is named Joy. We talk fairly often and I’ve known her for 73 years now.
I’m glad you’re recognizing and experiencing more joy, Lee – and may it continue to be so. And how fun you have a sister named Joy – I love that name.
Joy is a loaded word these days; it feels like we’re ignoring the state of the country and world yet we are aware of those problems and choose not to focus on them all the time. For me, joy is a mix of contentment, happiness and peace–not so much about current events, but about nature, good coffee, an excellent book, a brisk walk, a cuddly cat. Small things. Our systems need that feeling to thrive.
I know it’s a loaded word, Margaret, and it can be challenging to be an advocate for joy in these times. But I persist in my belief it’s important for our own well-being as well as for those around us. And I think you’re absolutely correct – it can be smallest things. And that’s a pretty wonderful thing.
They say that we should seek out joy especially in troubling times. It’s harder to do, but more necessary.
I agree whole-heartedly, Liz.
Keep you nose to the joy trail! Good advice! I suppose that would mean being alert to spotting the joy and not taking the little things for granted. I think it’s often hard to separate Joy from happiness. Does something make me happy, or does it give me joy? A bit different, but both good feelings.
A bit different for sure, but there’s no mistaking they belong in the positive, let’s-have-more-of-that-please column. 🙂
Hari OM
Forgive the correction, but the English spelling would be “XaiRe” (Think sibilant Cairo).
Yes, joy must be embraced and discovered in all the little things; that the birds are still singing outside even though the sun is down, for the spring air cheers them; that the blossoms are properly popping now that spring has finally sprung; that the sound of the tides is as reassuring as a mother’s heartbeat… Joy is all around. We just need to be open to it. Hard sometimes, admittedly, but worth the effort! YAM xx
I welcome corrections, clarifications, questions, Yamini – no need to apologize for offering. But I’m going to stand by Xaipe, even though I absolutely understand the r in the pronunciation.
Perhaps the word spelled with a p is a more of a U.S. English custom, but it is known that way, and in fact, one of e.e. cummings books is titled Xaipe.
I couldn’t agree more with the need to be open to joy, and especially now when it can feel so difficult.
🙏
Back right at you, Yamini.
JOY JOY JOY all around!!! TUNE IN!!!
And set the volume on LOUD. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Vicki.
I find joy in many things, plants flowering, trees whispering, painting and writing to record them, music and poetry, people and even work, but my partner’s deep depression is just the opposite – she can’t find joy in anything that she used to love and finds my ability to “do” all the more distressing and the only joy I can find with her is when I coax her to doing something, anything – even then, the feeling may not stick, for her…
So contemplating Joy is bittersweet at present…
I’m sorry. There’s so much hard in that.
I, too, struggled with deep depression starting in early childhood, and know how dark that place is. So while I celebrate having found a joy path, I’m usually a bit more contained in how enthusiastically I discuss it. I think perhaps I overstepped with this post.
Someone told me yesterday that I radiated the energy of my name. I told her that I think it helps to be named Joy.
What a beautiful compliment, Joy. And your name is such a wonderful one to embrace and embody – I love it! Keep radiating!
I like the idea of the joy stream!
May it run wide and long!
Lovely word, Deborah. I do love the quote … sniffing out joy!
It really delights me.
Thank you for this. The world is big and wild and oh so very challenging now and I’m doing my darnedest to find the joy in each day. Some days are harder than others but today was a good day 🙂 This post is the perfect ending to my screen time for the night. Thank you for pulling JOY to the forefront!
Thanks for your kind words, Melissa. And I celebrate you for keeping your eyes peeled for those joy moments – we need to them more than ever in these challenging times.
What a great word and meaning! Definitely something I needed to read today… well, lately, honestly! It’s a wonderful reminder that there is joy out there!
– Allison
https://lightningflashwriting.blogspot.com/
I’m glad this was a bit of a reminder for you, Allison. May joy always be nearby for you to notice.
I agree that Joy has a spiritual component that’s not the same as mere happiness. And I also believe that the more we can share joy with each other, the more that leads to all kinds of better and more abundant life for all, so it isn’t selfish in the least to recognize it, name it, and hold it up for everyone to see. Keep tapping into the joy stream!
For a while my “tagline” of sorts was “I’m serious about joy.” And now I always say “Finding joy is an act of fierce defiance.”
Oh, Anne – I love those expressions! Both are perfect.