Thursday, February 20, 2014

continuing the focus on joy...


my family - all my sisters and my brother bring joy into my life.
We have so much fun when we are all together!
We are a unique family in that we all get along. There's no sniping, or jealousy, favorites etc.
We really do truly enjoy and appreciate each other.

my art - I love, love when I am 'in the zone' doing my artwork. Actively creating, no time restrictions, no interruptions,...just lost in my thoughts and lost in the creative process.

more joy lists to come....

Monday, February 17, 2014

Finding My Joy

What does that word mean to you? Joy. To some it means the same as happiness, fun, entertainment.
To me it is different than these words.  I can be happy or have fun but not necessarily feel joy.
Joy, to me, is an all encompassing, deep down, very true feeling. There is a spiritual component to it as well. It is peaceful, blissful. It can be loud and exciting, but is just as often quiet and content.

I've been thinking I could use some joy. How do I find it? Where do I look for it? I realize I need to find it within myself. Sometimes easier said than done. I've been in a rather low place lately. It feels difficult to focus on joy. Everyday life intrudes, days slide by, weeks turn to months, and I haven't pursued things that are joyful to me. Sometimes I have a tough time even remembering what those things are. It's been difficult to find anything to blog about. Nothing seems interesting enough. I don't feel interesting enough.

And ...now I just sound like a downer. Sheesh! I start off talking about joy...but I end up exploring my sadness. It's tricky. To try to see the positive - I compare to the negative, then get swallowed up by it.

I've always been an 'up' person. I don't like to let myself stay down. If you've read some of my previous posts about the ups and downs I've been through in recent years - I hope it shows that I've tried to always see the silver lining. However, lately, I've just been feeling crushed by the weight of it all. Maybe a delayed reaction after the past few years? While I was in the worst of it I couldn't allow myself to crash. Now - it seems to have snuck up on me.

So....joy.

Looks like such a simple little word. Trying to hold onto it....not so simple. And I allow that it may have something to do with being in the middle of dreary winter, after our 'umpteenth' snowstorm! Lack of sunshine - blah, blah...


So I'm going to work on my joylist.
I'm going to try to focus on it. It may take me a bit to get going, and I'm sure I will have to add to it over several posts.

I would love to hear some of your lists as well and would appreciate any input into mine.

My joy.

My favorite and best source of joy. My children.
Such good, good people - both of them. Not that they are perfect. They make mistakes like everybody else. But just such really good souls..you know? How did I get so lucky?
OK - going to just go with that for now.

More 'list' later.

Thank you.

(oh there's one to explore...Gratitude...brings joy doesn't it? More on that to come.)