A Timely Poem

I found this poem and thought it was so timely for the times we are in now.

Journey of Joy

I saw the above picture on the Women of Faith website and thought it was so timely for me. This is what I have been meditating on so intensely...the Journey of Joy.  Instead of my looking at it as a journey to get to joy, I should be looking at it as using joy to get to my final destination, almost like following a treasure map to get to where X marks the spot.  On a treasure map, you follow each small step on the trail to get you to your destination. On my journey, I am using an observation a day of something joyful.  It could be something as small as listening to my cat purr as he lays on the table next to me while I journal in the morning or as large as hauling all the returnable cans and bottles accumulated during the lockdown to my former school for a fundraiser.  As I write down in my journal each one of these observations, I am reminded that joy is not something that flashes a neon sign and says "here I am", it is instead something you must look for, notice, pay attention to.  It may not come with fireworks and marching bands, it might come with a whisper.  So I will continue on my journey using joy as my road map to my final destination which is to see life through positive and grateful eyes.

June 2020 Update

Well, it is June and it has been a long time since I have posted something.  Circumstances around me have taken their toll and for that reason, I have not found much inspiration or motivation to blog.  So much has happened since the beginning of the year 2020: the Covid-19 pandemic with the lockdown of the country and the fear of getting it and/or losing someone to it, the lack of leadership during the pandemic which did not allay the fears, the violence and protests which add to the fear and worries and it goes on and on and on.  I am sorry to say that depression has taken me over and I am finding it difficult to  pull myself out of it.  Like the mask I wear when I go out to do errands, I also wear a mask that makes me appear to be handling everything quite well.  But I am not. 

When I started blogging, I did not want to turn it into a pity party but that is what I seem to be doing.  I am trying to find the joy in life once more.  I am meditating and praying within my faith and it is helping.  I read my favorite blogs and am uplifted, if only for a short time, at how well you are all handling the events of the day.

I do not know when I will blog again but until then, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.