The joker in Batman has this great line “why so serious?”
I was reflecting on that this morning as I drove 90 minutes to a clients office. Last night I had the hospitality of my sister and soon to be brother in law at their new place.
I arrived late, I was tired and really was just looking to go to bed last night when I arrived. Upon arriving I was given a grand tour of their modest unit. It’s going to be a great little place for them to start their life. As I was walking back to my car to get my things for a slumber party, I realised that I probably should have been more enthusiastic and excited for them as I was given the grand tour. I was reminded of a family friend, who is excellent at making what seemingly looks mundane really exciting and drawing attention to something, anything and saying how much she loves it, or the way it’s working in the room.
This morning I was being rather task oriented, I needed to be on the road by 8:30 to make my meeting. Therefore breakfast needs to be cooked. I’m no chef, and neither are my parents, but one thing my dad taught me was scheduling the cooking of food so that everything is ready as close together as possible. So when I’m asked “how many eggs do I want?” before the bacon has even hit the pan, I can spot we are going to have an issue. There is no way we can cook bacon, hash browns and eggs, and have them all ready at the same time, by starting with cooking the eggs.
So somehow rightly or wrongly I ended up in the kitchen cooking for everyone.
During what turned into my 90 minute commute to the clients office, I was reflecting on this morning activities, (which were shorter than I was spending driving) & I realised I had probably over stepped my boundary. In an attempt to “perfect” breakfast, I lost a relationship opportunity.
I probably wouldn’t like if my partners older sibling came and pushed in at breakfast when I had opened my home to them.
Which then got me thinking about Joy.
How do I bring joy into every situation?
Now before you go saying, that’s unrealistic. What about a funeral? What about in sickness, what about in xyz awful situation, there’s no joy to be found there. And you know what, your probably right. But I don’t face one of those issues, every single day, a handful of times a year, yes, but most days no. So let’s talk about an ideal for most days.
How do I bring joy into the everyday?
How do I do this in a sustainable way? Sure it’s possible to be funny, or act like a clown for a period of time, but most people can’t sustain that 24/7, it’s not practical.
There is where we start to draw a line. The difference between joy and fun.
I think joy is a state of being. It’s something from deep inside.
Fun on the other hand, is a temporary state. Like laughter, you laugh for a period, you experience ‘fun’ for a period. Joy is a way of being.
So we come back to the question. How do I experience joy, every, single, day?
That, I’m yet to find an answer too.