Have a grateful day! A friend told me he heard this from a cashier, and it brought me up short. I am always telling people to have a great day, but this feels so much better – because if I am having a grateful day, it is automatically a great one.

Enjoy your treatment. I recently heard this from an acupuncturist. It was a great reminder to focus on enjoyment, and I did. I enjoyed the tingling sensation running up my legs, I enjoyed listening to the various breathings of the other people in the room (this is a traditional style clinic in which several people are treated at once), I enjoyed looking at the tree and sky through the skylight. I enjoyed taking an hour with my own thoughts, as I focused them on feeling better.

Make a loving, not a living. I truly believe that if you love what you do, the living part will automatically follow. So try loving what you do, or do something else. (I’m not always able to do this myself, but it is a good practice for a master.)

Today is the best day ever! Someone in my MasterMind group began starting his days with this; I followed suit, and it really makes a difference in how my day goes.

Tags: Enjoy, Grateful, Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

Regardless of which path you think you’ve been following up to this point, why not always choose to see yourself as a master of joy, practicing? If the sages are right, there is no endpoint, so if you think you are practicing to be a master of joy, you’ll never get there; if you realize you are a master of joy already, but constantly practicing, then you can relax and enjoy the dance, which is all there is.

Tags: Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

One of the reasons I became a psychologist is, as it turns out, one of the reasons I also quit the profession: My nuclear family life was filled with drama, mostly between my parents. As I sat out of the way in the basement and listened, I became a very good listener, but I became “addicted” to listening – to drama. Even now, 10 years after giving up my license to practice psychology, and in the midst of developing a “joy coaching” practice, I sometimes catch myself listening for drama, even inviting it in and relishing it. The truth is that I would much prefer listening to people tell me about their enjoyments, accomplishments, joy; wouldn’t you?

Tags: Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

I invite you to try this idea on for a while. I liken joy to chi which is supposed to flow unrestricted through the body’s energy meridians, but occasionally encounters blockages which can be opened up through practices such as acupuncture or qigong. What often blocks the flow of joy are beliefs, like: “There’s a dark side to everything” or “I’m not meant to be happy” or “You can”t go around being happy all the time.” —   To which I respond, “Why not?” The Dalai Lama seems to, which is really amazing, given the history of his land and people. I am able to laugh about just about anything, but what occasionally gives me pause is what other people might think about my laughter — e.g., its “appropriateness” in certain circumstances. It is said that as the Buddha was approaching his own death and the need to appoint a successor, he chose the one who gazed into his eyes and laughed. How appropriate is that?

“One of the most common responses to the practice of gazing at the beloved is laughter.”  – Will Johnson, from The Spiritual Practices of Rumi

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features.php?id=20120

Tags: Joy, laughter
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

Last night I saw an amazing one-woman show called Leaps and Bounds, offered by The Affording Hope Project (http://www.affordinghopeproject.org); it was a beautiful, joyful, living creation myth played out on stage, and in the audience. Weaving together pieces of several cultures’ creation myths, as well as ideas about ecology and economics (and how we’ve been sold a bill of goods about scarcity which causes us to hoard).   Tevyn East offered us an opportunity to change our minds, right there and then, about how our future will play out. Ms. East is touring the country; don’t miss this chance to see and support this beautiful and hopeful show.

This idea of hoarding reminds me of an experience I had several years ago at a small but very popular cafeteria: At lunch, management put out a sign asking people not to save seats for themselves and, indeed, when people followed this request, the turnover was such that, just as you got to the end of the line and turned to look for a seat, someone was leaving. But if one person decided to save themselves a seat, out of the fear that there wouldn’t be one for them when they were ready to sit down, then the system broke down, and people started having to stand around, holding their trays, waiting for someone to get up and leave.

Tags: beauty, Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

This is Wayne Dyer’s message for March 30. I read this as I am eating my breakfast of poached eggs on pancakes, and I look at the exquisitely orange yolk of this organic, free-range egg from a friend’s chicken, and see how beautiful it is. It’s as simple as that. I look out my window and see this beautiful little stream flowing through what used to be a field of tomato bushes; the change is as beautiful as the former constellation. I am listening to my favorite online morning music station (Radio Heartland: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/radio_heartland/), and I find the beauty in the bluegrass song, Stan Rogers, Elvis Costello, Randy Newman – even in the unidentifiable c/w song. Perhaps, if I listen closely enough, I might even find the beauty in a rap song; who knows? See if you can “select beauty as your focus” - today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Tags: beauty, Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

My wild and crazy minister (aka “the pagan pope”) and I were having an audience with the “real” pope, who was dressed very simply in a white robe. We were all sitting cross-legged on the floor, though the pope was raised slightly on a dais. My minister took out a pipe filled with marijuana, took a few puffs, and handed it to the pope – as he did so, I placed my left hand on his back – who also took a few puffs. The air filled with smoke. At one point the pipe flared up into flames, but then settled back down to just smoke. I didn’t smoke, though I certainly got high from the smoke in the air.

Part of my “interpretation”: I am witnessing/supporting the integration of the free and structured aspects of myself, by sharing a “peace” pipe.

This dream has stayed with me for many weeks, and fills me with joy and a sense of freedom every time I think about it. I am always delighted by my minister’s freedom to be himself, and also appreciate a pope’s challenge to be himself within the constraints of his office and all of the expectations attached thereto.

Tags: dream, freedom, Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

The way I know this is that, if it did, I would have finished my taxes and had my rerund by now.

Tags: Joy, money
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

Once again it is snowing. Schools have been closed, travel in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with their penchant for black ice, may be difficult or even dangerous. I am grateful for having the day off to play/create in my home studio.

All of my fiber art is, in some way, spiritual; I began by making labyrinths, then buddha-figures; now I am making purses. What ties them all together is the joy I feel when I am creating; I have come to the conclusion that there is no higher art than this, whether I am creating something in my studio, serving a customer at the fabric store where I work part-time, or making dinner with a friend. Joy is what makes each of these acts holy, whole, and spiritual.

Tags: Art, Joy
Posted in Journal | No Comments »

Tags: delight, Joy, transformation
Posted in Journal | No Comments »