Always returning to Joy
If you are like me trying to keep up with the affairs of the world, you are probably wondering how you can help and create positive change.
Maybe even at a personal level, you may be pondering, sometimes, how you can keep showing up every day without sinking into a sense of helplessness… You might even choose to live quietly and keep the world at bay with the least amount of exposure to mediatic coverage… And if THAT gives you joy… I’d say go for it!
But at the end of the day, how can we be of the world and always return to Joy?
And why should we even dare cultivating Joy in the face of whatever unfolds in our lives and in the world around us?
The best reason, along the fact that we live better and are healthier when we are joyous, is that everything in this world is vibratory and everything is connected…
So when it comes to the sum total of the world’s vibration, my own inner state is going to add either to the low and sad side of the spectrum, or it will be in the uplifting range of it and either way, my state of being participates to the whole.
We tend to think in terms of limited individuality, raised in a society where ego is more developped than compassionate empathy and hoarding is mistaken for power; from this perspective, a lot of us may feel that we are too small to make a difference.
But we are not too small.
We are influencers by proxy.
We are as powerful as we let ourselves be.
And we are not alone.
Joy for me is a practice, a choice, a cultivation.
Do I get it right all the time? Of course not.
But I deliberately spend lots of time every day doing what I truly love, what makes me feel at home, what gives me a sense of belonging, what makes me smile…
More time looking at the exquisite beauty of Nature, and less time scrolling through overwhelming digital sludge…
More time in my garden, playing wiyth my cat, talking with friends, reading inspiring books, doing the work I love… and being grateful.
Letting myself go into a state of awe and reverence at the sight of the smallest star, the littlest flower growing out of cement, the colors of the sky, the infinite number of Nature’s wonders, which are everywhere…
Every day I remind myself that as small as I may be, I am a significant energy dispenser (and so are you).
And that energy is EVERYTHING.
We just need to tune up regularly to broadcast Joy as clear as we can.
I changed my life radically for the better many years ago, using a serendipitous bout of breast cancer as my teacher at the time.
“Radically” because I became a radical chooser.
A lot of things became really non-important, literally absurd, and I let go of them, leaning into my own capacity for happiness, leaning into joy… starting with the simple and invaluable joy of being fully alive.
I healed and moved on, but this cultivation of joy kept being part of my daily living and I sustain it by honoring my needs, doing essentially what I love, treating myself lovingly, slowing down to be present to the moment, trusting my intuition, and generally speaking, navigating circumstances with curiosity, compassion and undetterred gratitude…
That being said I’m no Pollyanna, and living most of the time with joy doesn’t make me blind, nor does it prevent me from doing everything I can in the material world according to my own moral compass.
We can be aware and not engulfed.
It’s a balancing act that can be truly challenging at times to tell the truth.
But the alternative (being engulfed) is a much slippery slope…
The most important point here is that living from the frequency of Joy is in and by itself a healing salve for ourselves and the world.
Therefore even when we could be tempted to think that we are helpless, we need to remember that we constantly have this incredible ability to latch onto what will help us go up our own emotional ladder so to speak.
By choosing to nourish ourselves, to tend to our spirit and heed our soul’s wisdom, we actively help the world, and all creatures around us, while giving ourselves permission to experience Life at best.
We may fall out and have dark moments, we are humans, but we can always choose returning to Joy!
To your Joy!
Much love
Emmeline