10th of July 2012

• Seeing my 31 year old stepson look at his science research (caterpillars, pupae, butterflies) with the wonder he had at 3 is JOY.
• The seemingly yet not disconnected feelings of sadness and JOY while remembering the first year anniversary of a dear friend's (too sudden, too early) passing.
• Siblings united as friends.  There was a time we wondered if that would ever happen!

What brings you Joy on this beautiful day?

5th of July 2012

Fireflies (aka gloworms) continued to shine in 4th of July conversation with amazing family and equally amazing, long time Libertyville friends.  (double entrendre intended) 

                                                                       JOY

More JOY:  My beautiful-on-the-inside-and-outside daughters enjoying one another and each other's friends.  I am thankful with tears of JOY over this!

What brings tears of JOY to you today?

PS  Record high temperatures and no rain continues here in the heartland.  It is humbling to think of our ancestors coping with this.

Happy Birthday U.S.A. 
Wednesday the 4th of July 2012

Joy from an early evening fireworks display... Thousands of fireflies flitting atop the underbrush and finding every space that permeates the trees.  Under the full moon of July.  (An extra special treat for those born in the sign of Cancer.)

"Glow little gloworm, brighter, brighter..."

JoyVictoria

Tuesday July 3, 2012

What makes you laugh out loud even when you are alone?

During a chunk of time, laughter eluded.  I mean that deep, belly involved, tear-streaming laughter.  (Predictably, deeply crying was nowhere to be found either.  I seemed to have Stepford Wive'd myself into a control limited zone of "getting things done" and real emotion was outside of the limits.)

Then, early one morning a few years back and just when I needed it (of course the Universe provides), I thought of a bedtime conversation with my daughter Callie (now 25 who was 2-3 at the time).  It was our first night having moved into our new home in California and her big sister (my stepdaughter Shannon) was staying the night.  Callie asked me where "she" was going to sleep. I responded, "Maybe the bottom or your bed or on the floor."  Callie looked at me with woe and asked, "Can't she sleep somewhere else, Mommmmm?"  Confused, I offered an alternative and suggested maybe she could sleep on the porch floor.  At that point with quivering lip, Callie burst out crying.  Thank goodness we realized she was talking about her big sister and I was talking about the cat.  Even as I type this post, this makes me laugh out loud.

So, for two reasons keep a list called "funny things" - a compilation of real life stories that make me laugh.
1.  Funny stories to share and encourage others laughter (some are funnier than others in the telling)
2.  A quick way to get out of the "life is hard" mindset (many of these are my own funny foibles)

Thank you for reading...

What are your funny stories?

JoyVictoria

July 2, 2012

Do you have a word or phrase that is part of your life and you aren't even sure how or why? My word is JOY.  Here is what I know...
During middle school days, or maybe freshman year at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, Connecticut, I met a wonderful new friend, Joy.  It was a short friendship because our paths quickly diverged. Joy became a successful student and went onto to college while I lived a 24-30 month period making teenage choices with consequences.  (In hindsight, all were meant to be and were a part of me becoming me.)  She was the first (and only) Joy in my life until ten years later.  It was then, at age 22, having moved 3,000 miles away to escape the labels of those teens year behaviors that I found out my pre-adopted name.  Yes, it is Joy.  (I have been told that babies in orphanages are often named for their personalities. I like that!)  Anyway, and incredibly, in-between meeting Joy and learning that I was Joy, I wrote a teenaged angst poem called finding joy.  (Not in capital letters on purpose.  For those that recall Peter McWilliams and Rod McKuen, you'll relate.)
Fast forward to age 50-ish, newly divorced with a new job, a hard-earned MBA and once again orphaned (having lost my mom and dad in 1996 and 2008 respectively), the universe, always so incredibly good to us, was showing me the joy in life when I needed it most.  I could fill this blog with those endless joy touchpoints, but will share just a few that, if we allow them in, will find us every day, even during the darkest and most bleak times.

• The sounds of the first morning (early) birds. (Open your window.)
• Morning light even on a cloud-covered day. (Leave the blinds open.)
• Prayer.
• The immediate connection when seeing a photograph of a family member or friend, even when they are thousands of miles away.
• The sun and the moon sharing the sky.
• Gratitude.

I wish you success on your joy journey!

Also - and compliments of my dear friend, Katie, back in the late 90s I started a JOY JOURNAL.  There are on average 10 entries per year of sheer, pure joyful moments with the five kids (and now grandkids, too).  This is one of the best gifts I have been given - this idea to write down actions, behaviors, and words of joyful moments that you think you will remember.  Trust us - write them in a book.  Now, years later, when a "kid" (now 34, 31, 25, 22, 20) is down or we are all together, the JOY JOURNAL emerges as a great source of love, laughter, and tears of joy.