A few days ago, I had a reunion on zoom with two of my dearest friends from high school. The three of us hadn’t been together since 1992. We had such a good time. We were so joyous during that zoom call, laughing, smiling, and talking all at once in our excitement. I came out of the call energized and delighted. I could feel that inner spark of joy ignited.
Feeling delight doesn’t mean you are being disrespectful of the present world situation, or about any challenges you are facing. It means in fact that you care very much about life and about this world. Every time a person feels delight, there’s more joy in this world. It’s as simple as that.
It’s not a luxury to feel joy and delight. In fact, it’s a necessity. And the harder the world is, the more we need it.
In his poem, A Brief for the Defense, Jack Gilbert writes:
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.
We all have a joyous voice inside. Perhaps you haven’t heard it in a while, but it is there, maybe buried under some louder voices that talk about what’s wrong. Let your inner delight voice come out to play. What brings it delight? If there is nothing in the present moment, bring yourself back to the past. Take some time with the memory of that person, that place, or that time when you felt free, happy, joyous, delighted. Stay there for a while. Your body will be flooded with feel good hormones. They are so good for you physically and emotionally.
In my self talk, I tell myself about what brings me joy and delight:
A message on WhatsApp from my dear friend. My heart leaps
My daughter comes out of school smiling
I think of my grandmother cooking macaroni for me as a child
The first spring blooms coming out of the ground right now
Thanks for reading!
With love,
Maryse
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