It takes courage to open ourselves up to joy. Joy is possibly the most vulnerable emotion we experience in our life. Young children are great at it, society soon deals with this by sending them off to the structure of formalised education where joy is not cool anymore.

Brene Brown calls this being trained in foreboding joy,  beating vulnerability to the punch by imagining the worst or feeling nothing in hopes that the other shoe won’t drop. One way both Brene and I suggest around this is to feel gratitude, moment to moment for your ordinary life. Not wishing that it was different to what it is at this exact moment. This doesn’t mean having no dreams or goals, it means being deeply grateful for the progress you have made so far in your life.

So how does the world talk about Joy, let’s skip down that path together:

1. Time to break out the Gumboots/Wellies. Remember those rainsoaked paths of your childhood and how long it took to walk down them as each puddle became a new adventure.

2. Commenting on his imprisonment Nelson Mandela stated I went on a long holiday for 27 years. How many of us could retain our joy for that incredible amount of time: Nelson Mandela.

3. We need both kinds – The dark and the light in the recipe that makes up joyfulness.

4. This quote makes me think of the joy of being loved: Perfect.

5. Freely Interdependent exuberance – Orgasmic!!

6. And what brings Joy to your life? Being in Action: Confident.

7. No regrets, please.

8. Dumbledore is a very wise wizard, after all, he ran Hogwarts: Turn On The Lights.

9. How does the Universe speak to you? If not joyfully time to reboot it.

10. What will be on your tombstone? For me, my definition of Interculturalism: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included: Nessun Dorma.

11. We are born free, what happens?

12. Love this beautiful list of life: The Joy of Life.

13. I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I.

14. Smell the Roses: English Country Garden.

15. His real name is Rolihlaha Mandela……his teacher gave him the name Nelson! His name means troublemaker.

To seek out moments of collective joy and to show up for moments of collective pain, e have to be brave. This means we have to be vulnerable. Brene Brown, in her 200,000 plus pieces of research couldn’t find a single example of courage that did not require vulnerability. Can you, In Your Life?

Today’s playlist contains the first Operatic song I have chosen, we begin with The Special, followed by the uber pairing of Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. Then a pop diva in Demi Lovato by the rapper Future. Then comes our operatic number with Pavarotti, then off to the Emerald Isle with The Corrs, finishing off with a quirky ditty from Jimmy Rodgers. Here is the Youtube Playlist for your viewing pleasure: Find Joy In The Ordinary.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.