Do you want more joy?

That’s a rhetorical question. Of course you do!

I spent the better part of January working on, I mean, really working on, my self care practices. I took a long hard look at the good, the bad and the non existent parts of my regimen and the thing that I most often seemed to ignore was the joy. The delightfully fun parts of self care that I often saved for last… and we all know what happens when we do that, don’t we? We rarely, if ever get to them.

So I told myself this year I would do it differently. Joy is moving to the top of my list. I will search it out, embrace it, fondle it, and make it a priority EVERYDAY. 

And then I had the craziest thought:

What might happen if a group of us committed to seeking out joy each and every day? What if we decided to share that joy with one another and with the world? How might we change our own lives as well the lives of those around us? Just one small piece of gratitude or laughter or beauty. If ten of us did that for forty days that would be 400 sparks of goodness gone out into a world desperate for it.

Next week begins the season of Lent. In the Christian tradition this is a 40 day period of (usually) giving up some “thing” you like or love or enjoy in order to prepare for the promise of Easter. As much as I admire and respect those that choose to give up chocolate, coffee, wine or making tik-tok videos, I have always found deprivation… well… depriving. And I personally don’t operate all that well in said state. Instead of thinking of Jesus, all I can think of is how much I love and miss chocolate (it’s actually why diets don’t really work – you focus too much on what you can’t have… but I digress).

For the last several years I have celebrated the Lenten Season by writing letters of gratitude rather than giving up a substance, food, or habit and I intend to continue this tradition. However, I am committing to my JOY JOURNEY as well. I am curious if training my brain towards joy will have the same effect that practicing gratitude has had on me. I have found the more I look for things to be grateful for, the more I continually find them. I have a hunch the same will be true as I seek out joy.

My goal is to concentrate on one jubilant moment each and every day. Just one. It may be a silly video, a phone call from a friend, a sunset, a gorgeous bird sitting outside your window, or a kindness from a stranger. Maybe it’s a meme you share on Instagram or a picture of a really cute baby or a book that you loved so much you want to press it into everyone’s hands. The point of the exercise is to seek joy daily. And just like gratitude, once you start looking for it – you will surely find it.

The vision I have is a small group of women who are committed to themselves, each other  and to working on their own self care as it relates to joy. We will meet weekly and I will give a little joy mission for us all to pursue each week (don’t worry- they will be painless and FUN!)

I am aware that sometimes words like self care and joy can feel, dare I say it- selfish. Most of us have been raised with a work ethic that leaves little time for such frivolities, but I have found time and again that when you ignore the joy, all the things you think are so very important eventually suffer due to your neglect of yourself.  YOU SIMPLY CANNOT SERVE ANYONE FROM AN EMPTY VESSEL.

If you would like to be part of my small, but mighty, band of joy seekers click here to join!