Finding Truth in Our Joy
If you were an ice cream flavor, which flavor would you be?
I asked this of my class participants one time, and I was thrilled to see the group come alive as we began contemplating our uniqueness from that right-brained play space. Because that’s where we find our Who We Really Are self. In that carefree, mischievous place.
But really, sit with it for a minute. Don’t think, just feel. Which flavor would you be?
(A really creamy, vanilla-heavy strawberry, for the record.)
Photo by Sarah Malik
Each of us shows up here on planet Earth, juicy and squalling, with our own, unique micro tuned frequency. A note that no one else can sing. And well before we’re compressed and ejected from our cozy den, we know what that note is, and what to do with it.
Before we arrive in the world, and knowing the essence we’re bringing here, we have all sorts of ideas of how to make that inimitable energy sing through life, catalyzing and creating all manner of experiences.
Of course, we also know that as we go through life we’re going to forget a bit. It’s human vogue to learn to let life’s woes write their story on top of our own heart’s truth, but we know it’ll still be there. Even if we lose track of it, or forget about it for a time. Even if we choose to “fit in” for a time. To do the things prescribed by society, even if they’re out of tune with the song we’re singing. We know we’re going to get bumped and jostled and rattled around in our life.
Our song will still be there.
We don’t even have to climb a mountain or invent a cure for cancer or make seven figures or walk on water. We don’t have to be renowned for anything at all. We can just be that singular tone and we’re doing what we came here for, even if we drift from it from time to time.
When we talk about purpose we’re really talking about what we can make or do with that quality that we alone carry. What connection, opportunity, healing, invention, work of art wants to be born using our own special sauce? How many ways can we express it?
For me, this place, this vibration, this Truth is always encountered when I access playfulness. Playfulness ultimately leads to joy, and joy to the Love that makes the proverbial world go ‘round. We’ll find our own magnificent flavor here. From playfulness, from mischievousness we return to our Truth.
Not that it’s the only way, but I’ve found it to be the easiest road there. Some days I read something or listen to something inspirational that takes me there instead. Some days the stars are aligned for resonance, and I just Know Who I Really Am.
But when I take that route, I find I wind up joyful, and when I’m joyful I wind up being pretty playful anyway. I figure I might as well start there, since it’s where I want to be at the end of the day.
Our signature/frequency/purpose rings out truest and has the most oomph when we are in that joyful resonance. It’s when the brilliant ideas come to us. It’s when we have the most delicious conversations with others. It’s when we hit the jackpot, and when things just work out. It’s when we’re being the most true to ourselves.
So when we get worried and confused about making one of those big, crossroads-style choices that have us wondering what we’re supposed to be doing, we can always try getting a little silly and stop trying so hard for a joyful moment, and often the answer becomes quite clear.
And really our purpose is in how we sing our own song, sing it honestly and truly. How we carry it in the world. It’s how our life reflects choices made in alignment with this unique and heartful frequency. (With healthy, loving boundaries and oodles of compassion and plenty of room for all the other notes in the symphony, no matter how much noise and interference there is getting in the way.)
At the same time I realize that there’s a vast buffet of other experiences out there to sample that aren’t light and whimsical. There’s not a thing wrong with feelings like grief, anger, envy. We get to do those, too. The contrast we experience through these heavy blessings allows our lighter moments to be all the more sweet.
Anger at injustice can bring about needed change. Envy generates motivation and catalyzes action. Relief that comes from healing old wounds gives us faith in what is possible. And trying to be cheerful when your cat’s just died dishonors your experience, and avoiding that pain will only do you harm. By all means, accept what’s there. Dive deep.
The thing to remember is that we can’t create from these other frequencies. The more time we spend cultivating the habits of joy, gratitude, playfulness, the more our wounded places heal on their own. The more time we spend feeling appreciation and levity, the more freedom we find in our daily lives to express who we are and to do what we came here to do.
So when I find myself stuck with “writer’s block,” or I can’t stop obsessing about something that’s not going the way I want it to, I try to do something that’s going to break into my fog and interrupt the pattern with something silly, embodied, and pleasing.
I dance. I put on some wiggling music and let fly. Or I take a walk, or put my toes in the grass. Smell a baby. Smell a rose (my yard is full of them!) Hula hoop. Call a friend. Pester my cats. Doodle. Color in a coloring book. So many ways to play.
I also like to surround myself with people who recognize my Truth in me, even when I can’t. Then it’s like I have mirrors around me to reflect back to me how delicious my “strawberry-vanilla” is, or how sweetly my note blends with the others around me, or rings out loud and strong when there’s cacophony, bringing the discord into harmony.
There’s a lot of stress in the world right now. Things are weird. Things we’ve assumed would always be there are crumbling. Structures built in fear are being knocked down. It’s wild.
But unless our hearts are calling us to do that work, the tearing down work, we need not stay in that denser place. It doesn’t help anyone. Not really.
And in holding ourselves in our state of truth and in our essence, and practicing the habits of joy, we actually give others the opportunity to rise. By just enjoying our lives we allow others to join us, singing their own notes in harmony with our own.
How sweetly our chorus will sound, when all our true sounds join together! Can you hear it?
Let the ice cream social begin!
I’ve been contemplating joy this week. Cultivating and tweaking practices to anchor it in. And writing about it, too!
If you were an ice cream flavor, which would you be?
