Joy: An Antidote for Our Times
Reflecting on the level of fear, panic, and sickness that has permeated the global community for well over a year it may seem a bit ludicrous, if not insane to mention joy. However, there is good reason to intercede with this element of grace and direct our attention to a gift that percolates from the inside and that can be generated outward regardless of any situation. We own it—joy resides in us. And joy makes us better containers for projecting our moods, attitudes, and behaviors outward.
It has been scientifically proven that certain emotions like fear, anger, and hatred which are negative can affect our bodies and especially our brains, as well as our environment in ways that are harmful. An energy like joy is a positive force and holds measurable properties that can support healing. Joy functions in a way that potentially neutralizes the unhealthy elements floating around the environment and inside ourselves facilitating peaceful interactions.
Practicing joy is not something pulled out now and then. It is actually a quality that requires daily nurturance. It illuminates our lives and is available to us even when it is practically impossible to see anything redeemable during a dark mood or a time of collective anxiety and indifference. Of course, this is true of any spiritual quality where inner reflection and soulful intention are aligned. You may think that joy and happiness are the same thing. So I want to clarify the subtle differences that set joy and happiness apart.
Happiness is a sensation that many misplace for joy. The tingly feeling you get when a friend delivers an unexpected gift. Or, after saving for an expensive purchase you finally have the object in your possession and become totally overwhelmed. It feels good, you smile a lot, your nerves relax and in a few minutes the “high” passes and life resumes. We were happy and the time cannot be replicated.
Sometimes we might even experience happiness in a gathering of friends and shared conversations and still feel lonely in their presence. The present ZOOM and social media craze is a good example of this acute dilemma. We are in a group, can see other faces, yet feel disconnected and aloof at the same time. While these experiences can be temporarily uplifting, they are fleeting. Happiness is temporal and transitory. Once lived regardless of how sweet, tender, and warm the experience of happiness cannot be retrieved.
Joy on the other hand does not totally rely on outside forces, although it can be supplemental and underpin what we might categorize as a happy event. Joy is an internal stirring, a flame that is always in the recesses of our being. It sometimes gets smothered in the pursuit of life’s experiences: work, study, mundane tasks like grocery shopping, washing dishes, cleaning the house, etc. However, joy is never entirely extinguished.
Joy is just there, a stirring of the soul. It can be found in the rising of the sun or a starlit night. In the warmth of a fireplace or cuddling with a favorite furry pet. Yes, these are external experiences but the sensation is much deeper. It’s almost as if the element of joy attracts these experiences. While joy can be defined as feeling good or content, I perceive it as a soul process, something that is evoked and nurtured through attentiveness to it.
More subtly joy is that essence that arises from within us and may tend to go unnoticed if awareness isn’t attuned to its qualities. Joy is that gentle, fierce, steady unfolding of the divine. You can deliver joy to others by being kind, compassionate, and loving. And while you are generating the pulse of the spirit through an action what you may be unaware of is the rippling effect beyond your face-to-face encounter, when a person reflects on their day and brings up a memory of interacting with you.
In Franciscan spirituality joy along with humility and love is one of the qualities expressed as notes for members in the Third Order Society of St. Francis. The principle of the practice is toward cultivating the “note” consistently and regularly, an expectation for which entire community strives. “This joy is a divine gift, coming from union with God in Christ.” There is nothing false or phony about it—pure joy is authentic, holistic, and benevolent.
I’m suggesting that anyone can embrace this quality regardless of tradition or present circumstances because it is innate to our beingness. The quality can seem ephemeral at first because we are so used to wanting to use words to define something, to give it human qualities as in feelings, colors, tastes, or smells. Sometimes that is not possible and especially with joy because it is a state of awareness, a state that coalesces into a constantly flowing well, moving into, around, and through those who might be in need even ourselves.
While joy cannot be touched it can be known. In our self-awareness, it can be noticed as a condition of calm and peace. People emanate joy in qualities that produce lightness of step, gentleness of spirit, and softness of heart. There is nothing rowdy or loud about joy even though it may come through laughter. An instantaneous change of mood and breath during a tense situation is the result of joy. Joy is what moves insurmountable obstacles, creates spaciousness and generates an atmosphere of holiness. Joy is divine light.
In her groundbreaking book Molecules of Emotion, Candice Pert demonstrated how our emotions affect every part of our bodies and minds. At the time of publication her work was considered beyond the scope of scientific exploration. She persisted in her research to discover that joy was a quality that ranked higher that most other moods as it raised the overall physical and mental well-being of a person. She noted that joy was more than just a passing euphoria.
Through her research, Pert discovered that our emotions have a sustaining quality felt long after a particular moment. She speaks eloquently of receptors and cells interacting in various ways and the relationship of soul to our vitality and person well-being. While Pert acknowledges the scientific complexities of exploring the simplicity of how something like joy can change our lives, she has the evidence to support her theories, through both personal and scientific tests, “these minute physiological phenomena at the cellular level can translate to large changes in behavior, physical activity, even mood.”
Everyone has an inner well of joy. Cultivating it and nurturing it especially in times of turmoil can seem utterly useless. But it is just in those moments that your commitment and inner resolve to be joyful radiates affecting you, your surroundings and other people. So, be joyful!