On Joy

“Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy!”

-Joy to the World

What a strange time to write about joy.

Even though time feels trapped in amber, Advent is upon us. The year is coming to a close, and that means fresh hope for a change in 2021. To put it simply, next year, I hope that things will be better. I hope the days will be brighter, the goodbyes fewer, and that we will literally be able to see one another again. The backdrop of this year has been one of such sadness, though there have also been joys too. My nephew is in the world. My goddaughter turned 1. Life isn’t all bad.

Advent is here, though this whole year has felt like nothing but waiting and waiting. Advent is a time we wait with joy. Though patience is thin, it’s like the widow’s jar of oil — we’re never quite out. Magic and mystery abound. These days, I have been wishing on every 11:11, twice a day, for a better year to be on the way.

I am claiming my joy these days wherever I can find it. Wishing on 11:11 is a small moment I find joy in my day. Lighting candles in the evening helps dispel the chill and gloom of an especially darkened winter, when missing the sun starts at 4:30pm. I decorated my home for Christmas yesterday, and allowing myself to hang silver snowflakes from the ceiling for the hell of it brought me joy. I believe that joy is abundant and wants to be claimed. Finding joy isn’t ever a fight, but it does take intention to seek the joy in the midst of so much sorrow and suffering. To be very clear: I do not want the suffering, but sometimes the small joys are heightened because the backdrop of this year has been so terrible.

Here’s to calling forth more joy in 2020. I’ve been mulling over my 2021 affirmations for the past few weeks, and one of the ones that’s speaking to me is “I attract my highest good.” I believe that seeking out my joy brings more of it to me; these things have a way of being attracted to those who seek them out with intention. I hope 2021 brings forth even more joy in my life than this year has, if only because I’m looking for it.