30 Days of Joy: Day 1/30

This blog entry and challenge might seem a little strange coming from me.  I generally consider myself to be a fairly happy and content person but I have decided that I need to bring more joy into my life.  I think that although similar, joy and happiness are actually two different things, although both definitely feed on each other.  To me joy is the stuff that really fills my soul.  It makes me happy to my very core and leaves me feeling lighter and more fulfilled.  In a world where we are inundated with images of negativity it is easy to forget and take for granted the things that fill your soul and bring you joy.  I want more joy in my life so why not spend some time focused on it.

About 7 months ago I started on a journey of self-development and learning.  It has been amazing and I will write more about it specifically in another entry at some point but for now I mention it because that is what has ultimately led me to this entry and the challenge I’m about to undertake.  As I have been working on growing myself I have come to realize that somewhere along the way I have lost touch with the things that really bring me joy.  I have moments where I glimpse it and feel it but I want to find more of it.  I want to not only find more joy but really appreciate the things that bring me that feeling.  I want to really embrace all the things that make me feel the most like myself.

With all of this in mind I have decided to set myself a 30 day challenge.  For the next 30 days I’m going to do something each day that brings me true joy.  I have come up with a list of things that include everything from a bubble bath to cuddling with my cat to trying something new and a bunch of things in between.  I also figured that as a way to get my blogging and writing going again regularly, I would post each day about what brought my joy (well most days anyway as there are some where I won’t have internet access).  The days I miss I will go old school and write the entries by hand and just post them after.  The plan is to post my daily joy the following morning, so for example today (Tuesday) I’m writing about Monday.

I am super excited for this challenge.  I suspect like most challenges that I set for myself I will learn a lot.  I also suspect that the list of things that bring me joy will also grow and change.  It is my hope that by the end of the month I will have a pretty good handle on the things I need and want to do that will bring more joy in my life.  I hope to feel the way I did when I finished that 10k race last month or the way I feel every year during the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.  Basically I’m going for a 30 ay mashup of all the things that make me feel on top of the world.

“The body heals with play, the mind heals with laughter and the spirit heals with joy.” a proverb

Day 1’s Joy – A Movie Night Double Feature with a Friend

Yesterday I went for an easy win to get me started on this challenge.  I have always loved movies.  They inspire me and entertain me and I love them all.  Not only that there is something that always feels a little decadent and self-indulgent and joyful about going to back to back movies especially on a work night.  hehehe

So yesterday, day of this challenge, I went with a friend and saw two movies after work.  The first was one I had seen before, Book Club, but I knew she really wanted to see it and I loved it the first time.  So we went and laughed our way through it.  It is a super cute movie that not only makes me laugh but triggers my sappy side as well.  Laughing for an hour and a half was a good start to finding joy.  We followed it up with the movie Hotel Artemis.  It was weird and quirky and super interesting.

I’m sure there are some who would say that a movie can make you happy while you are watching it but would question if it can actually bring you real joy.  Well for me the answer is yes it can bring joy.  Movies have always been something I love.  There is something special about being able to lose yourself in a movie.  For me especially when it comes to going to a theatre it is a chance for me to turn on my imagination and just let the emotions of the movie really flow through me.  When I leave a movie I always feel more creative and inspired.  I need that energy to support my writing.  So for me movies definitely bring me joy.  They fill my soul and my creative tank and when they are really good they stay with me for days and weeks and sometimes even months after.

I have to say day 1 was a success.  I’m super excited to see what day 2 has in store for me. 

May all who are reading this find your own little joy.