by Anjana Deshpande
Joy likes to nestle
between contentment and acceptance. It waits in the corner of our mundane,
everyday life, waiting to be invited. Unlike happiness, which demands pursuit, joy
simply is. Why then, do we complain about a “lack” of joy in our lives? Why do
we go in search of it, or say that “joy has left” our life? Chances are, joy
hasn’t left us; we just forgot it was there.
This month, let us try
some ways to consciously invite joy into our lives. Here are some steps to do
that:
1. Create
a Joy Map.
A
joy map is fun to do! There are no rules, just some suggestions to make it
satisfying and meaningful. Take a sheet of paper and draw a circle in the
center of the sheet. Put the word “joy” in the circle and draw lines radiating
from this circle. Each line will connect to another circle which contains the
word, activity, person, event that brings you joy. Think about times when you
were content, relaxed and really “in the moment”. Perhaps you were taking a
walk, reading a book, or maybe even doing laundry! It does not matter. If it
brought you joy and contentment, it goes on the map.
Next,
think of things that you would like to do. Even if they don’t exist in your
life right now. Just putting them on paper opens the door to the possibility of
making them happen.You may choose to use different markers
for different groups of activities. For example, if traveling brings you joy, use
different colors for places that are nearby, and easily accessible and places
that are far away and might need some planning to get to.
You
can even tear up pictures that ‘speak’ to you and place them on this map. This
is actually a great “detective” exercise to get to know yourself better. When you ponder over why you picked a
particular picture, you are really investigating the deeper recesses of your
mind that you normally don’t have time to go into.
So
go ahead, create a “joy map”! This is different from a vision board which is
more about goals and dreams. A joy map is about the things that are within your
reach right now, and perhaps some which you may have to stretch a little to
reach.
Learn more about mind mapping at http://www.studygs.net/mapping/buzanmap.htm
2.
A No Pressure Date: In her book “The Artist’s Way” Julia
Cameron talks about taking yourself out on a date. The budget is about $5 (yes,
you are a really cheap date). Where would you go? A dollar store? The mall? A museum?
The park? Coffee? I invite you to
take joy out on a “no pressure, let’s
just get to know each other date” and see what happens! This “date” can
also be used as a reward for yourself. A way to acknowledge what you have done during
the day or week or even month. So go ahead, celebrate yourself, and take yourself
some place nice!
And Finally:
3.
Bring joy to someone else: If you have ever smiled back at
someone enjoying themselves, if their joy was contagious and you shared in it,
then this one is for you. How about sharing something you do well or enjoy
doing with someone else?
On that note, wishing
you a Joyful June from all of us at the Resiliency Center!
