I've worked through a lot of misery, and have now been wondering about joy.. My former therapist used to say that our natural state of being is joy, feeling light.. I realised I've never really known what joy even means!

I started asking myself, when do we feel joy? Is it when we're with our friends or family, or engaged in our hobbies..? What does it feel like - is joy what makes us laugh? Causes us to have butterflies in our stomach?

Maybe it's different for everyone, but I realised that for me, joy comes from within! It's contentment.. It's feeling peaceful even in stressful situations..

And I realised that, as a kid, I lost my joy because I wasn't safe

You have to be safe to have joy! Otherwise, you'll just be surviving..

I also realised maybe it's time for me to stop surviving.. Let go of my old fears - so I can have joy..

Thanks for reading.. Just needed to share..

[*Laurie*]

You're not an unsafe kid now, so you can refind your joy.

I use music and art work that I love to jump-start joy.

Nature brings me contentment, the beautiful autumn colours, and at other times the flowers/plant life. I like to garden when I can.

[Yzen]

I feel I am either running away or running towards something. I believe that joy may be feeling at peace with where you are now. Contentment....like prefabsprout mentioned above.