In this world heavy with robust reasons for despair, joy is a stubborn courage we must not surrender, a fulcrum of personal power we must not yield to cynicism, blame, or any other costume of helplessness… And when the war within rages, as it does in every life, the practice of joy, the courage of joy, becomes our mightiest frontier of resistance.
~ Maria Popova, essayist, author, poet
These are breathtaking times with plenty of reasons for despair. And our spiritual practice for this month, the month of Spring and Earth Day and Easter, is Joy.
In these times it would be easy to say there's no reason for joy, we can’t afford joy, joy would be an insult to those who are hurting. What if we were to reframe joy as an act of resistance? What if we courageously refused to surrender joy? What if we were to claim joy as power?
Timothy Snyder is a historian and author who specializes in the 20th century history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. In 2017 he published On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, in which he outlines the steps citizens can take to combat authoritarian movements toward government takeover. Recently, he re-posted his twenty lessons in both writing and as read by actor John Lithgow. You can access the entire blog post here.
All of the twenty lessons are important and relevant to this time. What caught my eye this week was lesson #12: Make eye contact and small talk. Snyder says that it is important to citizenship that we connect with others, so we know our surroundings, break down barriers, and learn who to trust.
Such a small thing, a moment of joy when we connect with another person with our eyes, a smile, a kind and caring word or question about their life. A small bit of joy. And yet in that act we are being good citizens.
Small moments of joy keep us connected to ourselves, to each other, and to our ideals. In a time when people are demonized, people are hurting, and trust is broken, the small acts of joy and connection can help us remain centered, be joyful, and practice resistance. Yes, we must attend to all that is happening now. And we must also connect with lifegiving joy.
What gives you joy right now? Will you be courageous enough to feel joy and share it with someone else?
