Yesterday, after so many days of grey skies, hard rain and the kind of wet cold that you can never warm, the sun came out. There was not a cloud in the sky. I went outside. I stood in the sunlight. I took my first deep breath in days. I soaked in every radiant particle. I experienced pure joy.
Here are two poems by Rumi that describe my feeling.
The Source of Joy
No one knows what makes the soul wake
up so happy! Maybe a dawn breeze has
blown the veil from the face of God.
A thousand new moons appear. Roses
open laughing. Hearts become perfect
rubies like those from Badakshan. The
body turns entirely spirit. Leaves
become branches in this wind. Why is
it not so easy to surrender, even for
those already surrendered? There’s no
answer to any of this. No one knows
the source of joy. A poet breathes
into a reed flute, and the tip of
every hair makes music. Shams sails
down clods of dirt from the roof, and
we take jobs as doorkeepers for him.
Joy
Joy moves always to new locations,
the ease of its flow never freezing.
A long winter’s tale is over. Now
with each spring day a new story.
Allowing ourselves the experience of pure joy is very regenerating. Perhaps it comes in that first bite of something incredibly delicious. Maybe you sink your nose into a fragrant rose and inhale that intoxicating scent. How about wrapping your arms around someone you love and allowing yourself to fully embrace them? Or when someone says something humorous, allowing yourself a big, full-bellied laugh that shakes your whole body to the core?
Give yourself the gift of joy this week. You deserve it!
Kathleen