Speaking of Joy

Today my blogging friend Fil Campbell did a post about joy.  It’s one of those multi-layered posts with references to my beloved corvoids (this time around in the form of magpies), to endorphins released through singing, to loss, and to the power of joy.  I encourage you to pop over and read it.  She also mentions how the post is in response to the 1-word blog linkup, which inspired me to play along today as well.

I think a lot about joy.  And today feels like a perfect day to speak of it.

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.

And 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.

Joy is an energy stream.  Let me say that again, and I invite you to really take it in.  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 may you want to consider this Divine Source/All-That-Is.  And 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 pretty exciting isn’t it?!  Joy is always available to us!

Sometimes when people start considering this, some 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 there’s the bigger picture from the soul’s perspective. I’m going to assume that each one of you knows that you are a greater being than just what fits into this physical form.  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 doing is flowing and anchoring higher vibrational energies.  I like to think of us as vertical bridges – accepting 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.
• 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, and that’s the paradigm we’re collectively working towards.

So there – if you don’t want to ramp up your joy quotient for yourself – 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.