Hello, lovely! Iâm Nospheratt and this is Joy Every Week - a weekly quest to find joy in everyday things. Enjoy! :)
Today the day woke up gray and dark.
Everything is quiet and still, hushed for the rain that is coming. The trees are waiting for spring, bare branches patient, strong, steadfast.
My heart is inspired by their resilience. I believe weâre like them â standing among the darkness, bare but steadfast. Holding promise of a colorful and alive future.
But right now, we are entering a harsh winter thatâs going to last years. Even as spring comes, even as the light of summer burns bright, even as the leaves turn again with the arrival of fall.
Itâs not going to be easy.
Weâre going to need fuel, rest, replenishment. Motivation and courage.
Joy is all of those things.
Joy doesnât replace any emotion; it holds them all and keeps them from swallowing us whole. Society has failed to understand this. When it tells us to find joy in suffering, it is telling us to let it go, to move on, to smile through it. But joy says, Hold on to your sorrow. It can rest safely here.â
â Cole Arthur Riley, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us
Joy can hold all that we are, all that we feel.
Itâs the place where we can take refuge, take a break, find some solace.
Itâs also a conduit for communityâshared joy is one of the strongest things that I know.
And itâs a source of energy and inspiration. The deep breath you didnât realize you needed.
Joy will get you through.
You canât feel joy all the time; itâs not a constant state, something you achieve or acquire and are done.
But you can find joy every day.
Itâs not even particularly hard, most days. (There will be horrible days when joy feels impossible. Thatâs true, and thatâs okay. Joy will always be there, nearby, waiting for you to return to it.)
Most days, you just need to make space for it.
Look for it, even for a moment. Open the door or close your eyes.
Joy is there, in colorful pencils and short poems. In a new leaf, an old photo, the daily coffee.
đż Joy is also a practice.
Like any other practice, you get better at it with time and⌠practice. đ
What does a daily practice of joy looks like?
â Paying attention.
Little things hold so much joy. Like the sparrows jumping from naked branch to naked branch, tittering and looking for early seeds. The perfect cup of tea. Wearing your favorite rainbow socks.
â Looking for it.
Itâs a bit like bird watching, I imagine. At first, you only recognize the most common, flashier birds. But with time, you start to perceive differences in their songs, you spot elusive species while youâre out and about.
Youâre attuned to them, so you can spot a little joy from miles away. At any moment, you can stop, look around and find some joy. Right at this moment.
đż Try it! What small joy is available to you, right now? đż
Scribble a silly poem or make a doodle.
Write a quote on your journal.
Look out the window and name some clouds.
Watch a funny video. Listen to a favorite song.
Anything counts. đ
â Keeping a log.
Iâm always banging about making lists and writing things down, because thatâs how we make things last in time and anchor joy in our being.
We are hardwired to remember bad things and forget good experiences. Itâs a survival thing. But once you start keeping a log of the joy you find in your life, youâll be surprised of how much of it there is. Big things, of course; but mostly the small, everyday things.
It also helps with the practice â once your brain learns that youâll be writing about it (or taking pictures, drawing, making collages; your log can take any form or shape you like) â youâll be more likely to notice and look for joy everywhere, in the smallest, easiest things.
â Planning
Making time for joy is probably the hardest thing.
But making space, even allowing yourself to feel and share joy can be hard, feel impossible. âHow can you be joyful while the world is burning?!â
Thatâs precisely why! Weâre looking for joy, making space for it, sharing and calling others to find their own because the world is burning. Because we need it to keep going, to live instead of only surviving.
To be able to make time and space for joy, you need to plan for it.
đ
Add it to your fucking calendar.
Yes, Iâm serious. Yes, itâs necessary. Yes, it works!
Even if it feels silly, go and add âFind joyâ to your calendar, right now. You can always delete it later, if you want. But try it. Add a daily reminder to look for joy and record it.
This Weekâs Quest - The Practice of Joy
Ideas & inspiration to find your joy.
1 - Frame it in a way that feels helpful and fun.
Name your practice of joy. What type of thing appeals to you, fits well with your personality, your hobbies, your life?
Some ideas:
Adventurer - youâre an explorer, setting out to discover undiscovered joy!
Scientific method - come up with hypothesis for things that will give you joy, and test your assumptions. Record your findings.
Creative practice - what are the most creative ways to find joy in your day? Make art about it or inspired by it.
Archivist - youâre in charge of recording the history of joy in your life.
Journalist - investigating the most important personal stories about joy.
Museum curator - responsible for curating the best collection of joy youâve ever seen, complete with fun facts and dates.
2 - Add it to your calendar. đ
Add a daily reminder somewhere, until you donât need it anymore.
If a daily reminder feels like too much, add a weekly reminder to record the joys of the week, and make some plans for joy the next week.
Iâm not necessarily talking about scheduled events like meeting with friends or going to the movies, even though those obviously qualify. But add things like âcoloring book sessionâ, âa cup of my especial teaâ and âlisten to the birds during lunch breakâ.
Yes, schedule those too, so youâll have a little sparkling reminder of all the joy that is available to you, of the small things that add joy to your life.
It can be also a question on your journal: what joy did you find today? What joy are you discovering tomorrow?
3 - Set up your log. đŞ´
If you havenât already, set up the place where youâre going to keep track of your joys.
Want more ideas? Check out The Quest For Joy. I suggested some cool stuff you can use to keep a log of your joy.
Another one packed with ideas and how-to: How To Create a Personal Archive of Joy â Collect joy & stock up for bad times.
And if you think this is silly, try it for a month. Or even a week.
Then go back and browse through your notes / photos / journal / art.
And come back and tell me how it feels, having that collection of good things to access any time you need or want to. đ
đReads
I have created a section with my favorite posts - the best things Iâve written.
Take a look, Iâm sure youâll find something you missed or would like to revisit: Best of Joy Every Week.
đĽ Watch
I got so much inspiration from Susannahâs video about her journaling. Each of those journals is a collection of joy. đ
đ My Journaling Reset - Creative Joy Club
âHow I got my journaling groove back (and a personal message from me)
đď¸Listen
Iâve finished watching Derry Girls this week (if you havenât, get on it ASAP - itâs weird, hilarious, poignant and smart), and the final episode starts with Orla dancing to this song. Itâs one of the best, most joyful things Iâve ever seen.
I had forgotten about the song, but now itâs back on my rotation, adding joy and hope to my morning. đ
Thatâs It For Today!
Iâm trying this thing of sending the newsletter on Mondays - Iâm hoping to help you set up your week for joy, and start with a smile. Let me know what you think! đ
And then go schedule your time for joy!!!!! đđŤ
Until next time. âNospheratt