I have an envelope. It’s a bit battered and held together by a rubber band, sticky notes all around. The top reads “For Joy and Happiness only”.
It started some years ago. Every time I got cash on Christmas from my parents, I’ve put it in the envelope to save it for something for the pure joy of it. For years, I got it out after Christmas and put the new note inside. For years, I wondered what to do with it.
In the past, I would have known.
A handful of super-sour gummies from the local kiosk for my 8-year-old self.
An Italian football jersey in my teens.
A PlayStation 4 in my twens.
A guitar, or two, in my thirties.
And now?
Through the purpose drivers all around me and my personal regenerative journey, joy and happiness can get covered up. I have read about joy, happiness, love, and gratitude. But practiced?
We experience happiness when our circumstances are pleasant and relatively free from troubles. When we create the conditions for ourselves or someone else to feel safe/valued/enough. When we stop, breathe and realize that we have already achieved a certain stable state or feel how far we have come.
“I’m happy we are here. I’m happy I made this decision. I’m happy for you.”
Joy takes a slightly different view. It’s a practice rooted in gratitude and in the present moment. Weaved together with our past and what is special for us, we experience joy as a state of being in the present moment, sometimes triggered in different activities, sometimes just by standing still.
Walking your dog in the morning mist. Playing with your children. Sitting on your favorite bench underneath a tree. Having an afternoon tea in stillness. Doing the dishes.
We can experience joy in any circumstance no matter how tough times are.
Stop. Breathe. What is it for you?
When I held the envelope in my hand, I wondered, when I felt joy the last time.
Grounding our coffee in the morning.
Letting my hand run over long grass.
Looking into the eyes of an animal.
Watching a sunset.
Sitting outside in the late afternoon sun with my wife and having a conversation about joy and happiness.
Time stands still. I smile.
Before the journey is moving in.