A Journey Into Joy
Step 1 — Week 5: You Are Here
Step 1 is about taking an honest assessment—just the facts, without judgment—of where we are right now in the different areas of our life (health, personal life, work life, retirement, home, leisure, play, education, family, community, and so on). In order to move into joy, we must know where we are right now.
To join in on the journey, visit the MandalaoftheMonth.com to download the mandala and learn more about this step.
Here’s my journal entry for week 5: Play
In all honesty, I don’t give myself a whole lot of play time. It’s been ingrained in me to always be doing something productive. In my youth we could only go out to play after we finished our chores and/or homework. So “play” time became more of a treat rather than an important part of our overall health and well being.
When I do “play” I take it seriously…I catch myself always wanting to do it “right”. Some of the things I like to do for play are: playing games (cards, rummikub, charades, pictionary, and the like), doing improv, singing/playing music (piano, uke), dancing, acting, watching movies, to name a few. I realize now as I write this, that I enjoy playing with other people…for the most part.
Of late, I’ve been doing very little of any of these things. The Covid kind of messed up a lot of my play time and there seems to be fewer opportunities to do many of these things. I’m blessed that I have a friend who recently suggested I audition for a play (“Dead Man’s Cell Phone”) at our local community theater. She thought I’d be perfect for one of the roles. It’s been about five years since I’ve been in a play so I was hesitant to try out. I gave it my all and wound up being casted. We finished the performance last weekend…it was a blast. I’m already preparing to audition for another play later this month.
Where Do I Go From Here
I need more play time. One of my issues with play time is I tend to be a bit of an elitist when it comes to whom I play with. I’m also competitive, so I’m always wanting to play with people who take their play time seriously and play better than me so that I can become a better player.
I also know I need to lighten up, to allow myself to play for the sake of playing…to have fun while playing.
That’s it for now,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
inspiring and encouraging creativity, curiosity, and play through the art of mandalas
ABOUT “A JOURNEY INTO JOY”
With all the anxiety and stress in the world right now, focusing on joy may seem a bit counterintuitive. Mais contraire mes amis. We actually need more joy in our lives…now more than ever. And it starts within each of us. It’s been my experience that when in that higher vibrational state of joy, it helps raise the vibration of those around us as well.
Brené Brown defines joy as “an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation”. Of late, I mostly experience only moments of happiness and on a rare occasion, joy…thus my desire to journey into joy.
My quest throughout this year is to explore, experience, and express this state in a variety of ways, including following a variation of the hero’s journey, as professed by Jospeh Campbell.
Care to join me? Here’s how…
MandalaoftheMonth.com: On the first of the month, I’ll create and post a mandala for coloring. Each month we’ll take another step along the “journey into joy” by following a modified version Joseph Campbell’s a hero’s journey. Included in each step will be a description of the step and prompts for coloring and/or journaling for the month. You’re welcome to color them as well…they’re free to download.
MandalaoftheWeek.com: Each Monday I’ll be posting my coloring of that month’s Mandala of the Month, which will produce 4-5 colorings of that design. With each one, I intend to dig deeper into the message of that month’s mandala. You’re welcome to color along as well.
Mandala of the Week 