Journal for Joy Update

Journal for Joy Update

Hello My Beauties,

As you may recall, I wrote a blog post March 1^st, called Journal for Joy:

“What do you think it would do for you—your heart, your soul, your psyche—to take a few minutes of each day and contemplate what brings you joy and then to act on it, to bring positive, loving attention to it by writing it down? …starting today, March 1st, for 100 days I am going to be Journaling for Joy. I’ll keep you all posted as to what this act of writing down my joy does for me, to me.”

Today is day 31 of the 100 days I pledged I would keep my Journal for Joy. And so far, what I hoped it would do for me, it has. Like my experience with keeping a gratitude journal, keeping a Joy Journal has given me an even deeper appreciation for joy and a deeper understanding of just how important joy is to me, not only in my everyday life, but in the entirety of my life.

My grandmother, GG, is going to be 96 come December and she is one of the happiest people I know. In large part this is because she is so grateful for the life she has led, for her family, for the things she has done, the places she’s lived. But her jois de vivre goes beyond gratitude. My GG has had some hard knocks, and yet she still holds a sense of wonder for the world. I think in large part this is because she pays attention. She sees the different shades of color in the ocean, she points out the rainbows, the flowers blossoming and how delicious they smell. She notices the little things and takes great joy in them.

It is this intent to bear witness to joy that I strive to make a part my every day. I want to take the expression, ‘she/he is the happiest person I know,’ and shift it to, ‘she/he is the most joyous person I know.’ Happiness is lovely. It can also be fleeting. To me joy is all encompassing, and its presence is constant if we just allow ourselves to feel it. I want to be the most joyous person I know. Actually, if I had my wish, every person in the world would be the most joyous person they know. How cool would that be???

I am the only one who can take care of me. Just like, you are the only one who can take care of you. It is up to each of us to bear witness to the joy that surrounds us and then pull it in for a warm, loving embrace so that the joy seeps into our bones, our blood, becomes the essence of who we are, so that joy is where we move outward from.

There have been days where I haven’t written the joy I experience down in my journal until the following morning, but I did pause and take a moment to recognize the joy in real time. And that is my purpose in keeping a Joy Journal, taking notice, and writing it down to give it even more energy. I love this process and will probably continue my Joy Journal beyond the 100 days, but that is neither here nor there. The point is, I’m having fun with this, I AM focusing on joy now more than just once a day, and as a result I am even more joyful in every aspect of my life. And the joy is spreading. My son is starting his own Joy Journal, so are several of my girlfriends. And how fun is that?

If you haven’t started a Joy Journal but would like to join us in spreading joy, there’s no time like the present. As I stated in my earlier blog post, Journal for Joy, I’d like to remind you: “…there is no ‘right way’ to do this, just as there is no ‘wrong way.’ It is just to be done—no guilt if you miss a day (just keep track of the total up to 100.) The purpose is solely to bring my focus and your focus to what brings us joy, what makes our hearts sing, what makes us catch our breath.”

And that My Beauties is a beautiful thing.

IN JOY,

Shannon

PS I thought I’d share some of the moments of joy I’ve captured on film this month.