The thing no one ever tells you about joy is that it has very little real pleasure in it. – Zadie Smith

Joy is complicated. It is easy to dismiss amidst violence, forget amid noise, and neglect amid fear. It can be invisible in the heaviness of cruelty, wispy in the bigness of hate, or ghostlike in the fog of isolation. It can be forgotten in the face of crisis, chaos, and lack. The real pleasure of joy is about paying attention.

I want to bring joy home. We can find joy in small happenings. We can find joy in knowing we are not alone. We can find joy in starts and finishes, dreams and showing up, figuring out and moving through, imagining and building. I know a few things about distinguishing between joy and pleasure. Joy happens when we free, create, and share. Joy happens at the edge, in the fray, and with heart. Joy happens when we connect. Connection is real and complex and takes time. Joy means oneness. Joy means all together we are whole.

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Ode to Joy

I watched Ode to Joy flash mob video as part of a class led by Martha Beck, Write Into Light. It was an exercise guiding us to practice oneness. Initially, I repeated the mantra We are one, We are one, We are one until I became so swept away that the mantra faded into something else. The song’s familiarity immediately made me feel comfortable like I was being hugged by all that is. (The sound of the cello has always been a go-to mind clearer, noise quieter, and breath calmer for me.) 

Joy is a subversive act. There was something beautifully subversive about that moment. When the musicians came together, one by one, and people stopped and listened, one by one, children climbed trees, one by one, the chorus filled the space with beautiful harmony, one by one, and the conductor choreographed the moment in perfect symmetry, one by one. Reality was something else. Reality was connection, not isolation and division. Reality was the in and of and the not yet and the as ifand the why not. Reality was peace not chaos. Reality was joy, not paranoia and fear. Reality was the gift of RAPT attention. Reality was love.

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MONDAYS ARE FREE 056 — 060

EXERCISE 056: TUNE IN

just for the sound

Blueberry Pancakes

Jameson chasing blueberry pancakes and hash on English after flag football and a torn meniscus.

To Haniford’s once a week, golf, and then Gina’s pool. Haniford’s. Golf. Gina’s pool.

But not with him, he always has one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake.

Pool. Boat. Island. Lighthouse. Stress Test. Pool. Island. Lighthouse. Stress Test.

Leaving logistics. Leaving logistics. Leaving logistics. The UPS drive around.

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Taking A Walk #13

Still walking with Ross Gay

Empathy

A meditation on civilization’s strength

My ministers have been encouraging us to think about empathy lately. At a monthly Bible study. In sermons on Sundays. During casual conversations. I hate to admit this. There might be a significant possible crack in my knowledge and practice of empathy. I don’t want to seek first to understand cruelty. I don’t want to extend a hand to those who hate. I don’t want to turn the other cheek when our world burns. I don’t want to forgive evil even one time. I especially don’t want to talk about empathy when powerful people declare empathy as Western Civilization’s fundamental weakness. Truth. Full Stop.

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Weekly Wide-Awake #1

Weekly Wide-Awake #2

Weekly Wide-Awake #3

Weekly Wide-Awake #4

Weekly Wide-Awake #5

Weekly Wide-Awake #6

Weekly Wide-Awake #7

Weekly Wide-Awake #8

Weekly Wide-Awake #9

Weekly Wide-Awake #10