Joy! Day three! I spent the last two days musing about joy. Scrutinizing its definition as a centering exercise. Part of me is excited and part is nervous. Sharing this journey publicly has a vunerability and I don’t know what that brings.
Tonight, I was sitting at dinner, almost all of us together (one was sick sleeping on the couch) when I recognized a fleeting moment of joy. It was mundane, ordinary, easy. If you asked, I couldn’t recall what we were talking about. School, sports, end of the school year, what do you want to do when you grow up, you know, everyday dinner conversation. It wasn’t a blissful over-the-top feeling. It was as Merriam-Webster described a sense of well-being.
The term “attitude of gratitude” comes to mind. It wasn’t a thankful feeling. That’s not it. It is the current, trending idea that you have to seek gratitude. Gratitude is something that grows and changes the more you practice it.
I wonder if joy is like gratitude, its existence grows the more you look for and engage with it.