What brings you joy? Do you live in joy or does it allude you?
Another question prompted this question but for the longest time, maybe my entire life I have experienced very little joy.
I would not add “what brings you happiness” as that seems even more allusive. Some of us have had hurtful painful lives, some not, but I think joy lies in the ability to “play” or to give oneself what one really desires? But what do you do when you don’t even know what would bring you joy? Because your life has been about survival. Or did you realise you had cut off joy and how did you bring it back into your life?
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My kids,the fact that i’m alive, happy, healthy & i’ve retained the kid in me.Choose life love life.
The birds in the trees, nature in general, my family, and the fact that I am able to wake up each morning feeling positive.
A positive attitude promotes joy.
My parents, family, being the only child (sometimes), being healthy and etc..
Surprises, milestones, achievements, discoveries and distractions…....I find it hard to take joy in habitual or constants – that’s not to say they can’t bring contentment, but I find more joy in certain ‘moments in time’ than in ‘stock-taking’.
I have damn near killed myself lots of times twice intentionally. Three and a half years later im on psych meds. I don’t know if they really help. I know it sucks to stop taking some of them because they have withdrawals. I would rather quit heroin than seroqeul or lithium I have started a new diet of all healthy things. I also run everyday other day and bicycle 5–20 miles daily. I do pushups and a few curls but nothing too major with the weight training at this point. Anyways since my diet and exercise change I have feltincredible. I don’t have the suicidal thoughts that have lurked in my head. No meds or anything else the doctors have did have made me feel this good. Essentially exercise is a drug because it causes your brain to fire pleasure chemicals just like drugs trigger.
@buster you are 100% correct. I recall I time when I did that I was a different person. I am bipolar so I probably need to up my living hygiene. Particularly that I am on no meds at all. I don’t always believe they are the answer. The only thing is I have to get the “want to, to do it”. You are an inspiration thank you.
I think you mean “elude” and “elusive”.
I like working out, and explaining things I understand well. I also like popping bubble wrap and reading science fiction. I like listening to people talking in French, I like thinking pointless thoughts like who designed those bus stop signs and what sort of person would it have been, and I like reading TV Tropes. I like bubble gum and Owl City and swinging a Tai Chi training sword around in amateuristic pseudo-fencing moves. I like drawing and I like collecting all my plastic garbage in one place and bringing it to the plastic recycle bin, and I like manga. I like singing or humming along to music. I like running up a stairway with as many steps at a time as I can. I like talking to friends about important or nonsensical things. I like playing Solitaire. I like running my fingers over the smooth surface of my desk.
If you don’t find anything in your life that brings you any joy, I have to wonder if you’re really looking.
Happy to be of service. :)
Night noises of family in the house. The sound of other people’s voices in other rooms, talking and laughing, maybe the music on, television. I savor those moments, because they are mostly gone now.
Joy is a by product. Things are good, you get joy.
I get joy from being in the world. Seeing nature. Watching my dogs.
Talking to people. Sharing a laugh.
BTW, I think you meant elude and elusive.
Alot of things bring me joy.I am a joyful person who is not above having an occasional meltdown.I do like to mix it up ;)
Contentment is happiness to me. I know that I don’t ‘need things’, whether they be relationships, friends, or objects to be happy. Also, when people ask me how I am doing, instead of carelessly answering, I say great, no matter what. If I feel down, it makes me really feel great. I also take the time to be kind to everyone, no matter what. It’s hard, sometimes, but you have to realize that everyone is carrying a great burden. Focusing on those suffering around you, rather than yourself, is a great freedom.
My marriage brought me tremendous joy and raisson d’etre. Following Meghans death, that joy is gone Any attempt to substitute anything else is both elusive and repugnant to me. I may be able to find a role and function in life, but true joy is not a realistic or desirable option for me.
I wouldn’t say I live in joy but I now have moments of joy several times a week. What brings them? Walking and talking with my friend, walking alone around the lake and noticing the crocuses coming up, the large purple dinosaur statue at the museum on the walk to work, nuthatches at the birdfeeder, Thursday nights at our local watering hole with my husband….....
Like @wildflower, my moments of joy are not for accomplishments, but moments of pleasure at being alive, perceptions of nature or connection with people.
“I know have moments of joy several times a week.”
Me too. ;-)
@ChazMaz Thanks for quoting me and allowing me to find my typo and correct it.:-)
Glad you’re finding those moments too; even if you are following me around today
I hope you don’t mind. It is bringing me great JOY.
I’m sorry to learn this about you, Justine. You give answers that are so caring that I wrongly assumed you were familiar with joy. I wish better for you, than this.
I didn’t experience joy until I did some internal work. Since I had so much of it to do, and a lot of it was dry and tedious, I won’t create a novella with my answer. I also didn’t look for validation from the ones who created these problems for me to solve. They weren’t exactly forthcoming and generous with the positive. I hope this helps.
I agree with the ‘not needing’ to attain happiness.
I enjoy peace & contentment and it is not contingent of any sort of aquisistion.
My greatest joy is in nature and when I write or create something of beauty that arises spontaniously without effort.
Happiness IS a state of mind!
I am a Christian (now, now, don’t all run away!), and I will tell you I find joy in seeing the miracles that surround us every day, and no one takes notice!
We are remarkably blessed.
Yes, but I don’t think that is only about being a Christian.
I do not ascribe to any sort of organized or fundementalist religion, yet I am very aware that there is, beyond a doubt a power higher than us, call it God, the universe, creative intelligence.
Being awake and aware of the mystery, the bigger picture is part of self-actulizing and definetly a big part in how one experiences life satisfaction.
My kids give me unfiltered, concentrated joy.
You have to learn to see beyond the pain. You have to notice the little raindrops rolling down the window and connecting with the other little raindrops. You have to look for and appreciate the beauty of the storm. The clarity alone is a good reason to be joyful. You know you are missing joy and you are making an effort to change that by acknowledging it and looking for ways to change it. Like this very simple question you just asked here. You’re on the right track.
@Just_Justine I don’t want to say this but I think Astrochuck and some of the others that referred to family might be right. I had a great childhood and had a solid core foundation to work from, and I still get a lot of joy from my family. We all love and support each other and if anything happens I know they’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs. It isn’t always easy as I’m one of the “rocks”, as my mother refers to me. I think it may make the difference between survival and joy though. If it helps I’ll offer to adopt you as my little sister.
@marinelife Ah yes dogs, I forgot about that. They bring such pleasure, and don’t ask for anything in return… oh except food LOLL
My wife won’t let me live in Joy. She told me to leave that woman alone.
Acting! “To be or not to be” and all that jazz!
Many things really; what comes to mind are children, grand children, and hearing from a dear friend.
My boys, being fortunate enough to be near and have a beautiful relationship with my soul mate, and my faith all give me great joy.
laughing with absolute wild abandon…
you know what I mean like…
when you’re tickling your son and he’s giggling like mad and you’re giggling like mad and you really have no idea why apart from the pure joy…
and then there’s always always always rainbow cake
Joy occurs in moments. It comes from within. It’s yours whenever you are open to it.
Oh yes! Laughter!
My daughter and I can crack each other up till we are on the floor in pant wetting abandon! lolol
I’m not sure I want to be so joyful that I wet my pants, but you go ahead. Have fun! :D
I’ve given a lot of great answers here.
Oh, wait! Those aren’t me!
Listening to beautiful music, seeing a beautiful site: outside in real life, laughing with a friend or loved one, an orgasm lol (the curse of thoughts disappear, the blessing of feeling overwhelms – its legitimate, however temporary, like all: joy), laughing because you realized something (laughing at the stupidity of others, the limiting mentality, the situation, and your former self, and your newfound freedom of navigation of consciousness – where you always are), running really fast, rediscovering something you have created, home movies, my cat, a kiss, dreaming, being high! lol, finding a new friend, love, doing something special with people that love you
Essentially liberation, newfound freedom, new heights of artistic beauty, and affection.
Hahaha..well it happens! hahahaha
I’m feeling joyful right now because of all the fun we’re having on Fluther!
I’m feeling joy too…cars running, veggie pizza pick up, beautiful warm sunny afternoon and I am going to have beer & pizza on my deck in the sunshine and get out the clippers and start the spring pruning fest…:-)
Oh Joy! :-)
I’m a simple and mundane person. Coffee and cigarettes in the morning bring me death joy. New video games make me happy. Nothing better than a horror movie in the evening.
Happiness, in my opinion, isn’t something you spend your life chasing only to end up in some abyss realizing you never knew it when it was there. Hence the mourning of good memories.
Maybe I’ll change my mind when my life actually has some meaning other than living for myself, but so far, I stand on that.
For most of my life I’ve said I’ve had happiness when I can’t say anything horrible has happened. Joy on the other hand seems beyond happiness to me and has come and gone in fleeting waves through my years. Happiness I can say I pretty much always have and Joy is something beyond that, something extra and precious I enjoy most when having someone worthy to amplify and share it with.
This day has done it for me.. I can hardly wait for March 14 next year.
We used to have Basil Houpis Day in my high school. Maybe March 14th will henceforth be AstroChuck Day.
(And just why did you think I asked that question about letter-carriers’ work schedules so many weeks ago?)
@Symbeline I agree with you. We think we have found joy, but it just becomes another opportunity for sorrow. We think that we see a light at the end of the tunnel, only to find that it is the headlight of an oncoming locomotive. N’est pas?
To my way of thinking (Yarnlady is happy every day), joy is a peak experience, only to be felt on rare occasions for short periods of time. There is no need for joy every single moment of our day, or even every day of our week, to provide us with happiness in our life.
ice cream trucks and deep breaths
This thread, and a few others, brought me joy this evening. Seriously! :D
Not much other than my boyfriend brings me joy. When I see him each morning, that brings me joy. When he looks at me, that brings me joy.
What gives me joy are intangible things, hopes that I will be somewhere very different to where I am right now. I have a good life but full of hurt and pain, more so than for most people I know which I feel makes it worse.
But the strangest things give me joy.
I worked for two years to gain certain academic qualifications, and when i got them with flying colours i was happy.. but i dont think i felt joy.
what really makes me feel joy is his smile, the way he walks, his voice and how he knows i exist.
love, of my own accord, gives me joy.
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