Seeking Joy
Summertime is here and it started me thinking about how much fun and adventures we Alaskans pack into this particular season.
In the five-element tradition, the season of summer correlates to the bright sparkly joy of life, the sound of laughter, play, and flowers in bloom reaching for the sun. It is the most yang season of the year and hopefully, if you have rested well through the yin winter months and stored enough energy... your reserves will be full to enjoy a spectacularly fun summer!
The Dalai Lama has a quote I love: “The three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness are our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to experience gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous.”
I reflect often on this quote and on one of his teachings to fill up others “buckets” with kindness, love, and respect and in turn, that will bring you happiness. He calls it being “wisely selfish” and a delightful way to cherish others on the way to your own happiness. These simple teachings can bring so much joy to our lives... and so much happiness.... but what is the difference between the two?
Curiosity got the better of me, so I had to look for some official definitions, and I was surprised at what I found. Have you ever known a word to be true for you in a certain way, and then it is not at all what you thought? Here goes:
Happiness is a state of well-being. Contentment. A pleasurable or satisfying experience. Happiness is what happens to us. You may seek it, but it is not a conscious choice you make.
Joy is the emotion and expression evoked by well-being. Good fortune or doing the work of “processing what one desires”. Joy is a choice. Purposefully made.
What do you want in life? Do you know? It seems like a reasonable question but often we do not take the time to pause and sit with it. The simple active process of working toward this is what can bring you joy. Not the big win at the end of a game, the dream car, the vacation... not what the end result of your desires are, but the triumph of learning something about yourself and following through with dreams and goals for this lifetime are what can bring the deepest joy; The process is where the really good juicy stuff is at.
Simple ways to cultivate this in our summer season of joy and fun: surround yourself with positivity, laugh, be goofy and dance, move your body to joyful groovy music, love the small things, random acts of kindness and my personal favorite... go for it! You are the only one who knows your deepest desires, what makes your heart flutter with glee and your spirit sparkle. Make the steps to start the journey and maybe you have something in mind already, if not, try journaling, talking to an old friend, reading a book to spark ideas, or brainstorming with no limits.
It brings me great joy to see others living with delight. I believe in you and remember, joy is found in the process itself, not in the outcome.
Much love,
Sam.
