Dr. Barbara Holmes describes how we can find joy through practice and surrender:
Joy is a choice. Our lives are so short; to live with joy seems to be a no-brainer. Why waste time on issues that we can’t control? Your body holds memories of both joyful and difficult moments in your life. Think about something that made you angry, and your body will supply the distress and angst to go with the memory. Think about joy and happy moments in your life, and your whole body smiles. Joy offers a peace that surpasses all understanding. Once you experience joy, once you find those inner pathways, it leaves markers toward those inner resources so that you never lose sight of them again….
So, how do we foster embodied presence and joy? I believe we do it through practice and through meditation. Left to your own devices, the natural state of the human brain is a wandering and critical mind. Meditation helps bring that chaos into a more peaceful state. If it’s difficult, begin with sitting in silence. Let your mind do what it wants before slowly bringing it into the present moment. Use music if it helps. The second thing I would suggest is to awaken to the joy in nature. Purposely pay attention to sunsets and sunrises, to the sounds of nature, and other expressions of joy in the environment. Third, I would suggest that you develop an appreciation for the everyday graces, the sound of children playing, the traffic that won’t let us get home when we want to but allows a pause in our frenetic going.
Fourth, I would suggest that we begin to ritualize transitions, such as births and deaths, transitions from child to teenager, and from teen to adult. Mark these events as special moments of joy. You may be surprised at the numbers of incidents of joy during the ritualization of sad occasions. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Be peace,” I’m suggesting that we “Be joy.” You may not feel it, but embody it. Live it. Smile it. Is that being fake? I don’t think so. I think it’s holding space for the joy already given and received that you may not be aware of yet. It’s helping your body to express an inner state of being.
Finally, don’t forget the power of community to create spaces of joy when you cannot engender the joy yourself. That joy comes during worship, during fellowship, and even during crisis. Civil rights workers found their joy in music as they came together. I’ve always said, the greatest antidote to depression and oppression is joy. There’s joy coming together of one accord. In the upper room, preparing to grieve the loss of the Savior on Calvary, suddenly there are tongues of fire and joy with the impartation of the Holy Spirit. When you feel alone, look at those who are with you in the struggle, and those who have gone before. No matter the circumstances, it was community that empowered the justice movements in this country and in others. It was a momentum of like minds focused and trusting in God that gave activists the energy to face their fears.
Reference:
Barbara A. Holmes, “Embodied Joy,” CAC’s Living School: Essentials of Engaged Contemplation, Center for Action and Contemplation, August 2024.
Ya’ Wahyu, untitled (detail), 2024, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Two children splash in sun-warmed water: every droplet and ripple radiating joy.
Story from Our Community:
When the cool weather starts to set in and the leaves fall from the trees, I lay my hands on the trunks and bless them. I thank the trees for the many ways they brought my family joy and provided a sanctuary during their season of growth. I bid the trees good night, and I pray that they will have a blessed winter’s rest. Likewise, each spring, when warmer days arrive, I lay my hands upon them and invite them to awaken to a new season. I ask them to stretch their boughs to the heavens, and together, with the trees, we worship the Divine Creator. This has become my spiritual practice each season, greeting nature each spring and blessing its good rest each winter.
—Katie C.
