This past January I wrote a post entitled Fighting Back With Joy. I’m repeating it here because it’s even more appropriate now:
I have learned to read the papers calmly and not to hate the fools I read about.
—Edmund WilsonThis quote tickles me, probably because when I was teaching stress management years ago, I would read the papers in the morning to test how well I was doing. It’s still good practice.
I’ve always been interested in history, so I don’t want to hide and miss seeing it in action, but I agree with Mary Oliver:
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world….
Since my teen years I’ve thought of happiness and joy as a way of being defiant, fighting back against all the soul-sucking parts of life. It beats feeling helpless and angry or depressed.
Amen to that!
July 4, 2020
And we add our AMEN as well!!!
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Happy 4th of July
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Happy Fourth of July to you, too!
wonderful.
I love the Edmund Wilson quote! and always Mary Oliver’s words.
and yours as well!
my favorite though is simply “life is good.” it’s just a simple little reminder.
they are two friends who simply love life and find happiness in little things.
and spread the word about it. lifeisgood.com they do a lot of philanthropy work now. or at least they always did. I need to check in on them to see how they’re doing.
wow. well I only knew of them when they were selling t-shirts out of the back of their truck or van. now apparently it’s a multi-million dollar company and they still give 10% of their profits to a children’s foundation. they’re brothers. I thought they were just friends.
how time flies!
Yes, time does fly. 😀
You are so RIGHT!!!
Commitment and practice. 🙂
I re-read the post from January and the “fence” still just hanging in there…
During our lock-down, lots of things niggled me here…
I thought I should look for some other place to live…but to date nothing I see looks appealing and it’s certainly not strictly in a good $$/bracket.
I’ve upgraded my heating solution so hopefully that will mean I get to sleep better and as it’s winter time, feel better about indoor life…
Having enough heat makes a huge difference!
So glad you repeated this! Because I never saw it and I really really like it because I have been feeling depressed over the shape of our world. So I’m going to try and do this and accept the joy when it comes and if I those odds
It reminds me of Renoir when he was criticized for painting pretty, cheerful pictures. He said there was enough sadness and suffering in life. He wasn’t going to add to it.
I think it amazing you thought like that as a teen…
I had a pessimistic view of life and the world, but also a rebellious streak.
Good, uplifting messages and blogs desire to be repeated. Thanks for this.
We can use all the reminders we can get. 🙂
Well stated.
Thanks.
This one was worth repeating especially now with everything going on in the world.
Taking time to find joy and give in to it is a good way to go
It’s something we can do so it keeps us from feeling helpless. And it makes life more enjoyable for ourselves and for the people around us.
I always see you at many blogs with the comments….thought I’d stop in to say hello. It’s good to know of no forest fires…I lived in the Colorado Rockies for over 50 years before retiring to the Texas Coast, so I know of the fire dangers when the timber is dry!
Love the video h
& the Wilson quote.