HIDE AND SEEK WITH JOY

joy [joi] noun

1. the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation:

2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated

3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4. a state of happiness or felicity.

I played a game of hide and seek this week.   10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.  Come out come out wherever you are.  In this life game, I was seeking and continue to seek joy.  Here is a list of places that I have found joy peeking her head out in my life as I have actively been noticing where she was.  Here are spaces small and large that caused great delight.  They are exceptionally good and satisfying, both in grandiosity and in ordinariness.  I thought joy was hiding—but she was actually very close.

I found joy in awareness.  In the slowing down and noticing...

Joy was found in the gentle wake up with my morning coffee

            warming my hands and my insides, easing me into a new day.

Joy peeked at me as I gave myself time to read an entire book—

            luxurious time that happens with summer beginnings.

I found joy in the act of writing…of taking a blank page and creating

            thoughts, feelings and images when I thought nothing was there.

I found joy in the celebration with others.  In the bonds that make life rich...

Joy jumped out and grabbed me as I watched my daughter,

trying on wedding dresses as she prepares to don a marriage.

I peeked at joy as I played cards with family,

            sparring with strategy and sharing laughter.

Joy whispered in my ear as I listened to my son and welcomed him home,

            sharing a hug through the unknown.

I found joy in work.  In the use of my mental capacity to make the world a better place...

Joy was found in the completion of a long procrastinated task—

            off my plate finally—the lightness of relief that followed.

Joy peeked through with year-end closures—another school year behind

            wonderings of what next year will hold.

I noticed joy in the planning and sketching of maps and timelines—

            use of analysis to make concrete, to build into the future.

I found joy in the giving and receiving to and from others...

Joy was found as I led a workshop on leadership at a time

            when I felt depleted only to find a reserve from within.

Joy found me in an unexpected gift from a friend and the lesson

            that sometimes we give by allowing another to give.

Joy peeked out as I was there for a friend as he was recognized

            for his generosity to others.

In the noticing joy was found.  Tag—“You are it,” I called to joy as I caught glimpses of her in my weekly meanderings.  “I didn’t realize you were so close.”

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she continues to call, her turn to find me.  Guess what, I won’t be hard to find.  And I am glad she wasn’t as hard to find as I thought she might be.

Has joy found you today?   Where have you found joy?