My theme for 2022 is:
“Notice and Create Joy (when(ever) possible)”.
I thought about just choosing the one word “JOY” or “Be Joyful” but both of these felt too big and too pie in the sky for me. I know I can’t be joyful all the time and those shorter themes felt more pressured, inauthentic and not quite right for me. Yet, I know I want MORE joy in my life and I want to have joy or joyfulness to be a focus in 2022 in a positive, mindful, and healthy way.
I recently finished reading the book, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee which is what spurred this idea for my 2022 theme. I feel like I read this book at this time for a reason.
The book was not at all what I had expected. I thought the book was going to be about how to live and appreciate ordinary experiences to create more happiness and joy in your life. I thought it was about changing your thinking and slowing down to be mindful of the little things in your day that you enjoy to increase your happiness. The book came highly recommended from a couple of sources so I thought it was going to be a good book on something that I had heard about and believed in yet presented it in a better way.
The book was NOT about being mindful and noticing the little experiences in your day to increase your happiness, at least not the way I had assumed it would be. The book is focused on the aesthetics of joy. The author is a designer and she started a picture board of “Joyful” things and then kept adding to it and studying what and why THINGS are viewed, thought of, or felt as joyful. I am not a designer and I do not think that is one of my strengths but I love beauty and beautiful things. This was a whole new way of noticing and thinking about joy.
Generally we “know” when something looks or feels joyful but it is often difficult to explain why. Lee decided to study the why of joyful things in depth. How cool is that? I love that she was curious and followed this unique desire to question and learn about the tangible qualities of joy. This book was about things outside ourselves that connect to and create joy. I thought of joy as something intangible, an emotion or feeling, our thoughts and experiences rather than something physical with certain characteristics. The two are related. I had limited my perception and ways to create joy. This book shifted my focus from joy inside myself to sources of joy outside myself.
The author “identified ten aesthetics of joy. Each of which reveals a distinct connection between the feeling of joy and the tangible qualities of the world around us.”
Here is her list:
- Energy: vibrant color and light
- Abundance: lushness, multiplicity, and variety
- Freedom: nature, wildness, and open space
- Harmony: balance, symmetry, and flow
- Play: circles, spheres, and bubbly forms (not the way I think about play)
- Surprise: contrast and whimsy
- Transcendence: elevation and lightness
- Magic: invisible forces and illusions
- Celebration: synchrony, sparkle, and bursting shapes (think fireworks)
- Renewal: blossoming, expansion, and curves
I love this list.
So many of these words and concepts are positive things we all want and want more of. I am considering focusing on one of these words for each month of the year. I haven’t decided if I will be doing that or not. It may provide an additional focus on a specific aspect of joyfulness.
Lee talks about how there is “a whole world of joy right at your fingertips. There’s no method you need to learn, no discipline you need to impose on yourself. The only requirement is what you already have: an openness to discovering the joy that surrounds you.” My reaction to this is that noticing IS the same as discovering and this book talks also about creating. As a culture we hold ourselves back and often go the safe / acceptable / serious / professional / “adulting” route and lose out on creating or adding joy to our days.
A friend asked me on a scale of 1-10, “How would I rate my level of joy in my life?” To be honest, my joy meter is not very high right now, probably a 4. Is that where I want it to be? No. I am not exactly sure why it is so low but this is how I am feeling. I recognize and admit that I have this amazing life filled with pretty much everything I have ever wanted yet I am not feeling much joy, which then makes me feel even worse. I feel like I am struggling. I know I want to have more fun, more play, more laughter and to enjoy my days and time more joyfully. I want to let myself go and tune into these extra-ordinary things. I am willing to work on the “how” to create more joy this year.
What is your level of joy right now?
What could make it better for you?
I am asking myself these questions.
Joy is impermanent. It comes and goes in cycles and is part of life. The contrasts and changes help us notice joyfulness, which is an aspect of its magic and specialness.
I welcome any and all suggestions or recommendations you have for building on my theme for the year. I chose this theme because I want to make an effort to notice and create more joy in my life. This feels like a good theme for me right now.
I would also LOVE to hear what your theme is for 2022!
Wishing you the very best.
Tara
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about The Aesthetics of Joy there are many free resources on Ingrid Fetel Lee’s website – https://aestheticsofjoy.com/learn/
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