Practice Joy

Practice Joy

One of the ways that my Aunt Harriet practices joy is by driving through the country with her husband of 50-something years, looking for mailboxes with funny names on them. When she finds those country names she writes them in a little notebook. She writes my dad (her brother) letters, sharing the funny names she found. We have literally roared out loud with laughter, reading some of the names she has noted.

Another way my Aunt Harriet practices joy is by purchasing whimsical picture frames on sale wherever she can find them, then filling them with photographs of all of her favorite family members and putting them up in every corner of her house. Not only does she have older, dated pictures, but also up-to-date snapshots of every loved one she has ever known.

So now my sisters on our women’s circle are on a mission: searching for ways to practice joy. Some of the ones that I have found: telling funny stories to an audience of sympathetic friends…the ones you know will laugh. Spending time around a young child, enough time to hear some of the funny things they say. This evening my son said, as we pulled out of his school parking lot, “Mom, you have to venture into my hair to search for mice.” This was his way of telling me that a child in his class had been found with lice.

Tonight my friend and circle sister Jenn told the story of the “happy basket” she created. Her children and she add daily to the basket: tickets to a movie they loved, comic strips, notes, anything that makes them feel happy. She said that it’s really working and that her family is sharing their happiness more freely, now that they have a ritual “basket”.

I will be searching for more ways to “practice” joy. I trust that some of you will send me your ways.

Through the years I have practiced self-pity, resentment and other darker moods. Now I am curious about practicing joy. Stay posted.