Photo Credit: AlicePopkorn
We do not have the luxury of a simple, easy, painless world. Life is not easy, and living is full of tough decisions. Through it all, I strive to make like novelist Tom Robbins and not just maintain, but live, a simple, 5-word life philosophy:
Joy, in spite of everything
It's a blazing, amazing line. Its inherent passion belies its brevity, dazzling you while the words slip inside and sear themselves into your soul, weave themselves into your very DNA. Yet despite simplicity and brevity, those 5 words are hard to live, hard to enact day in and day out, circumstance by circumstance.
But they are true. And without them, there is always the mire of despair and inaction, the fear that can rise when making your own damn decisions, despite all else.
Joy, in spite of everything.
Joy, in spite of futility.
Joy, in spite of flaw and error.
Joy, in spite of knowing how much brutality and malice and senselessness and wrong is in the world.
Joy, because to live is to have the capacity to do.
Joy, because to act, to do, is what keeps the heart beating, the voice singing, and all these emotions and processes worthwhile.
Joy, because all generations new and now may not always choose well or choose right, but they can — and many do.
Joy, because so can I.
Joy, because so can you.
To live is to do, and if you aren't going to do, then you might as well not live. Strong words, and strongly felt. I do not always choose well, and sometimes I drag my feet out of fear. But I choose, and try, and do. I keep on, and try to smile along with it.
I've made my choice: simple, true and happy is how I will live. Joy is how I will choose, and joy is how I will be.
In spite of everything.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Happy holidays indeed, old friend.
Love you love you, Anthony and Jodie. Holding you close in my heart, and hoping it doesn’t hurt too much when the first words in the card I mailed yesterday refer to the baby not to be…
Dearest, can we spend some time being Joyful together? Focused Joyful time is needed to dash away all the grim bleakness that is in the air. I love you and Jodie so much, my only regret is not keeping our lives in closer sync with one another. New Year’s Resolution #1 and I think you know what it is!
Thanks guys. And Choya, don’t worry – it just wasn’t time yet. Tis but joy deferred.