Gratitude is the sign of noble souls ~ Aesop


Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving ~ Kahlil Gabran


Joy delights in joy ~ William Shakespeare


Sunday, February 28, 2010

Shine Little Glowworm

When I was twelve years old, I was frustrated because I couldn't quite grasp the difference between "Happiness" and "Joy". How could someone feel joy in their heart at the same time that they were feeling sad or sick? Didn't you have to be happy in order to be a joyful person? So I thought a a lot about it (I know...I was an odd child) and then a realization came to me that has stuck with me ever since. Happiness is like the weather, ever changing, from one day to the next. Sometimes it's sunny, sometimes it's cloudy or even stormy. But joy...joy is like the climate. The climate of a place is constant, the fixed trait of a certain location. If the climate is temperate, it may get cold or rain, but you can be sure that the sun will come out again.

So I think that's why I started this blog -- to cultivate a climate of joy. It's not a call to stick our heads in the sand or turn a blind eye to the storms and pain in the world, but instead, to develop a bedrock to dig into when the waves and wind become so strong it's hard to keep your head above water. I want joy to be the constant underneath the turmoil of changing circumstances and the roller coaster ride of emotions that I encounter in my life. It is a choice, not an easy one, but a worthy one, to decide each and every day to focus on what is good, what brings joy, what I can be thankful for. Even if it's just one thing. One tiny little glowworm's worth of light in a vast cave of darkness. Because even a little light is still light, and if you string a bunch of tiny lights together, the beads of brightness become a glimmering curtain of light so that even the blackest cave becomes a thing of beauty. I've seen it happen on the Planet Earth series, so I know it's possible.

Thank you for all being a part of building that curtain of lights with me...bit by bit. Every time I read one of your entries, I feel like I am glowing a little brighter:)

It makes me think of my favorite poem by Emily Bronte, one that I quote to myself many times when words of my own fail:
"No coward soul is mine,
no trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere;
I see Heaven's glories shine,
and faith shines equal, arming me from fear."

3 comments:

  1. The climate analogy is spot on. I love how we can glean these types of truths through observation of the natural world... especially here in Kentucky where the weather is in a constant mood swing!

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  2. Wow, you take my breath away. So apt, so true. Thank you for this perspective!

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  3. But for darkness, what light does candle shine?

    So many facile flickering daylight-candles... its neat-o to have found a flame with such a warming aura as you.

    O Darkness, rejoice!

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