Brain Food #674
Giving in to joy
Thoughts of the day
Sometimes, it can be easy to hold back on feeling joy. After all, life can be imperfect, stressful, even disappointing, at times. There is time to feel joy later.
But joy does not have to wait for perfection. Joy is about deriving pleasure from what the present moment has to offer, and can be a lot less elusive than happiness. Life will continue to happen; we can choose whether to participate.
Make a list of your little joys. Indulge in your guilty pleasures. Find something good today, and share it with others. After all, as Mary Oliver wrote, joy is not made to be a crumb.
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that's often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”
— Mary Oliver
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