Joy: Our Companion With A Hundred Faces
My last blog post of 2022 spoke of the importance of grief, and so I want to greet the early months 2023 with a few words on joy.
Untangling joy from the cultural jaws of commercialization is challenging - we’re bombarded with messages around joy as a destination, a product, a lifestyle, a drug, a permanent state of being, and so much more. This kind of thing gets whipped up into a frenzy this time of year: New year, new you! Be more productive! Get all the supplements! Do all the yoga!
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the fresh energy of a new year, productivity, yoga, or supplements. There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with feeling like a thousand-year-old goblin who just wants to sleep under a mossy rock as the world falls apart (sidenote: if you know of somebody offering goblin yoga nidra, please do reach out.)
(painting by Moki Mioke from the series "How to Disappear," 2004 - 2009)
All of this fervid signaling around happiness inadvertently posits everything as a strict binary: we’re either on the correct path to success (i.e. happiness) or we’re falling off of it (i.e. literally all other emotions.)
The reality of being, is of course, much, much messier and more absurd.
We dream, we build, we fail, we rest. We grieve, we connect, we get lost. We find things. We lose them again. We curse, loudly. We’re grumpy and resentful. We’re grateful and loving. Sometimes happiness is part of the picture, and sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes we know exactly where we’re going and everything works like clockwork. Sometimes everything breaks down.
Sometimes our Shadows take the wheel, and we find ourselves catapulted into emotional territory we didn’t even know was possible.
I’ve spent the past month getting ready to teach again, and revisiting the feedback and messages I’ve received from my students over the years. Some of the most common responses from Shadow Tender workshop participants I’ve heard over and over again are:
“This is all completely different from what I expected.”
”I didn’t even know there was joy, here.”
“I didn’t know my Shadow could teach me so much about joy.”
Witnessing these discoveries fills me curiosity and hope - especially when I am feeling defeated by the heaviness of news headlines and the grayness of February skies.
Our Shadow is our life-long companion, and among it’s many mysteries, there are hundred faces of joy awaiting to greet us where we may least expect.
I am very excited to be sharing about upcoming workshops, classes, and announcements in the coming weeks.
Till then, please know I am wishing you joy in all of the faces it may chose to greet you - this month, and always.
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