It’s the final week of our Fall Reset!
We’ve covered protein and produce, walking and weights, rest, faith, and this week we pull it all together with JOY!
This week your challenge is to look for a daily delight.
For bonus points, send me your daily delight. Text me a photo of a bird you saw on your walk, or a cute baby. Email me something positive. Did you compliment someone, did a stranger hold the door for you? Share your daily delight with me or someone you love!
For inspiration on finding joy, I read Ross Gay’s book Inciting Joy.
He dismantles our false belief that joy is the opposite of what’s going on in the world right now. That joy is frivolous. Or the result of an accomplishment, doing, or achieving.
He writes:
“…we often think of Joy as meaning “without pain” or “without sorrow – which, to reiterate, our consumer culture has us believing is a state of being that we could only buy- not only is it sometimes considered “unserious” or frivolous to talk about joy (i.e. but there’s so much pain in the world!), but this definition also suggests that someone might be able to live without-or maybe a more accurate phrase is free of- heartbreak or sorrow.
But what happens if joy is not separated from pain? What if joy and pain are fundamentally tangled up with one another? Or even more to the point, what if joy is not only tangled with pain, or suffering, or sorrow, but is also what emerges from how we care for each other through those things?
What if joy, instead of refuge or relief from heartbreak, is what effloresces from us as we help each other carry our heartbreaks?”
Why joy is important right now:
If you watch the news you’d think were going straight to hell in a handbasket. Downtown Portland is under siege! The price of food is skyrocketing! Bad people are doing bad things!
Since I don’t watch the news (well, unless you count Reddit, my trusty news source) I do not believe that the world is a dumpster fire.
I believe that people are looking out for me. That good things are happening to me every day. I choose joy over fear.
You can choose joy every day.
You can find delight in cooking delicious food like Nona here. You can have fun moving your body like Miss Shirley. You can rest, nap, or stare out the window, guilt free, knowing that taking breaks is good for your brain, your soul, and your creativity. You can give over worry or anxiety because you have faith that good things are happening.
You can know that by taking good care of you, you are doing good in your little part of the world and that your positivity is rippling out, impacting everyone. Start by noticing daily delights.
I’m not asking you to stick your head in the sand. I’m asking you to rise above the bullshit. Walk away from anything and anyone who is trying to drag you down. Let it go. As the swifties say shake it off.
While I’ve been leading y’all through a fall program for several years now, this was the first time I focused on these themes of protein and produce, walking and weights, rest, faith, and joy.
I’d love to hear how this went for you. Which week felt easy, which week was challenging. Did you learn anything new about yourself?
How could I improve on this in the future?
One of my favorite things to do is dress up in costume. I’ve been volunteering at Camas First Fridays since we moved to East Vancouver three years ago. Each month there’s a new theme (which means a new costume for Anne).
I’m also a board member of Cascade Zydeco, a local non-profit whose mission is to promote Cajun and Zydeco music and dance. We have monthly dj dances, lessons, and live music events.
I prioritize going to these events because they bring me so much joy!
If you need more joy in your life come the next Camas First Friday (pie theme) Friday November 7th, or meet me on the dance floor at the Cascade Zydeco Halloween party (costume optional) Wednesday October 29th.
xoxo
Anne
