The Practice of Joy

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JOY - A source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something exceptionally festive or satisfying.  [Joy week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.] 

Laughter is the jam on the toast of life. It adds flavor, keeps it from being too dry, and makes it easier to swallow.
— Diane Johnson quoted in Zen Soup by Laurence G. Boldt

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted in two days!!! Really feel like I've been away!! My apologies to anyone looking for my typical schedule. I have been over here at my home practicing joy and getting waylaid by a certain three year old muffin.  We have been tackling night time potty training over here (to much success I might add - only two accidents in three weeks) but the process has been having the additional effect of Sweets waking at 4 or 5 to use the potty and then not being able to get back to sleep. We are all getting a little zombie-ish and my usual three hours of coffee with the Sweetie and blog time has evaporated. Today I managed to get her back to sleep at 4:00 so here I am... although I'm getting started a bit later because I needed to catch up on some additional sleep while I had the chance. We'll see how far I get .

The quote I started this post with was found over at the Spirituality & Practice website. Since I have started my project here that place has become a frequent stop on my journey. If I compare what I am doing with over here at Everyday Bliss with what they do I come to the fun and interesting conclusion that I am developing the spiritual practice of Bliss! Thinking of my project in those terms is kind of exciting. Yes, I'm doing my best to experience more Bliss but even more then that I am hoping for some type of spiritual shift in who I am being everyday. I intend on being someone who on-going-ly invites and shares Bliss.

This week I have been focusing specifically on the bliss characteristic of JOY and I can see now that this virtue continues to be the vital key to my entire project. I've shared a few times about the fact that I think of myself as the possibility of outrageous joy and when I am not living with that frame of reference guiding me I get a little lost. Spirituality & Practice always has a tidbit or exercise that brings me back to my possibility in mere moments. This morning I tried this out to marvelous results:

Colette Aboulker-Muscat is a world renown teacher of imagination as a way for us to explore our inner reality and discover how to live in the depths of our experiences. She has created many thousands of imagery exercises, sharing them with her students who could from many countries to her home in Jerusalem, Israel. In this one, you are encouraged to discover the benefits of “Dance.”

Breathe out three times. Get in touch with your physical existence. Know that each breathing has a purpose and direction. Notice what is going on in your body.

Imagine that you are alone at the edge of a large, clear, quiet, and calm meadow with the sun above you and all the space to dance. Look at your meadow and be aware of your feelings. Then begin to dance freely. Now see in this space another dancer dancing. He or she is offering to show you how to dance. You are free to accept, reject, or share this dance. See how the two of you dance together in the green, clear, quiet, large meadow. Then open your eyes. 

Just a few seconds and I felt immediately restored to joy. When I did this exercise my dance partner was my daughter. Oh how she LOVES to dance and visualizing the two of us together melted all of my groggy annoyance away. She was welcome to wake me from my slumber and usual routine as often as she needs or wants! As much as I delight in having my time to write I sit here hoping I'll be interrupted at any moment. 

Try out this exercise and see if JOY finds you too!

Dancing Mother and Child Bronze Sculpture

This bronze-plated, aluminum statue stands 11 inches tall depicting a mother dancing with her child. This piece brings timeless joy to any room.
Producer Partner: Noah’s Ark - established to provide integrity, welfare and better living conditions for very poor artisans in the villages of Moradabad, India. 

Next Post: Joyful musing

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are exploring Joy. 

Next week is all about Order.

The Forum for Limitless Joy

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JOY - A source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something exceptionally festive or satisfying.  [Joy week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.] 

(Note: all images in today's post came from Google images)

So I was hopping around the internet, as I do most  mornings, and I cam across this site called "The Forum for Limitless Joy." The link will take you to the exact page I landed on. The forum in the title refers to something called Instant Messaging Role Playing (IM RP) and the participants were debating the merits of the practice. It turns out there are several kinds of RP and sites to support your fancy. Medieval and Science fiction styles appear to be most popular. I played a little (I was a magic using half-elf) Dungeons and Dragons when I was a kid and this immediately reminded me of this.

My quest over here at Everyday Bliss has been primarily concerned with the real flesh and blood world but I can see how this type of Forum could be a lot of Fun. Take on a completely different persona, try out ways of being that you would never do in real life. Totally entertaining! 

So as I was contemplating this completely made up world my daughter's door opens, uncharacteristically early and she trots into my room and shuts my door. "I need to keep the monsters out." She then does a walk around scan of my room and apparently decided it was monster free. She climbs on my bed next to me and immediately falls back to sleep. (She is next to me as I type this.) Ha! Sweets was in the middle of her own dreaming role play! The second she came into the room she had me completely enrolled. "Nope, No Monsters here! I think you'll be safe on the bed!" As in RP forums, she had created an engaging back story (Must keep the monsters out.) and pulled me right along for the ride.

In this case she was doing all this in her sleep but she is doing it all day long! Just yesterday I was a "Mommy Chicky, Mommy Princess. Baby Kitty, Friend Elephant, Wolf, Piggy and Mommy Caterpillar. In mommy land we refer to this as "Imaginative Play" and it is a good sign of a child's development if they are engaged in this type of activity for several hours a day. In our house it rarely ever stops. 

As adults however, we generally completely give this up! My artist friends have transferred some of this imaginative play into their art work, it could be said I have done so with my blog but it is rare for me to actually participate in some of my own made up scenarios. One time, when my Sweetie and I were dating we pretended we were undercover spies and we played a game to meet as if we were still strangers at this little French Bistro. It was a total blast and we even dressed in "spy clothing" (Lots of black! LOL) for the occasion. It was so much fun! I really can't remember how we came up with the idea but it was innately JOYful to be playing with each other in this way.

I shared yesterday that my girl is my outrageous joy and in this case she can also be my teacher. I have been willing to join in her games, where red riding hood brings cookies for both the wolf and grandma,  Daddy Princesses wear paper bag crowns and baby caterpillars drink banana shakes while in their trees but not in any of my own. I think it may be time to get my spy wear out of the closet!

How about you? Any role playing fun in your past or future? 

Next Post: The Practice of Joy

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are exploring Joy. 

Next week is all about Order.