The book study is taking me into the frontier of joy! Here is a quote directly from page 79 of the book The Gifts of Imperfection.
“Joy seems to me a step beyond happiness. Happiness is a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you are lucky. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love.”
-Adela Rogers St.Johns
Are happiness and joy the same thing? Brene Brown tells us that the research has taught her that happiness and joy are different experiences. I love how she explains that happiness is a human emotion that is connected to circumstances in our life and joy is a spiritual way of engaging with the world that is connected to the practice of gratitude. Ah yes, the practice of gratitude.
I consider gratitude and joy spiritual practices. These are calls to action. It is not enough to just know about joy and gratitude. My gratitude practice involves noticing nature and simple saying THANK YOU. This sunflower was growing right where I had boot camp today and I really noticed its magnificence and started being grateful for the majesty of nature. Then I found myself getting caught up in the miracle of life itself and started feeling very, very grateful. It is an out of body experience for me where I experience my spiritual essence so much bigger than my physical body. It is like my body feels like a cup of ocean water and my spiritual essence feels like the limitless ocean itself. It felt very expansive and very connected.
What is your gratitude practice?
