I’ve Been Asked to Write About Joy - Oct 16 2025

 

I’ve Been Asked to Write About Joy

Oct 16 2025

A simple word

it seems as anodyne as nice

as non-committal.

But joy

is no such wishy-washy word;

it’s all-in

transcendent

lost in itself.

So when — if ever — did I last feel joy?

When was I transported

and overwhelmed?

I think of rites of passage,

like a first kiss

a starter house.

I think of transitions,

like graduation

a promotion at work.

But these feelings are mixed,

the elation

tempered with anxiety,

the friction of change

we innately resist.

While joy is all-encompassing

has no self-doubt.

It’s an act of faith,

a blind leap,

a total surrender.

Yet I can’t remember

ever letting myself capitulate.

Did I really fall in love,

or did I cling to the edge of the cliff

just to be safe?

Did I take it as a given,

drift

instead of dive?

But when they asked about sorrow

it took no time,

so many moments of despair, desolation, and loss

came quickly to mind.

If life is a zero sum game

then I’m not doing it right.

I console myself

that joy comes of its own accord.

That like the happiness

that keeps eluding you

the more you seek it out,

live with passion

and your heart exposed

and joy will somehow find you

despite yourself.