Today I share a piece of writing inspired by my word of the month for May: JOY.
In the Slow Friends Community we’re journalling and meditating our way through the seasons this year, using a framework of words to help guide our self-discovery journeys.
🌟 If you would like to delve into these seasonal self-reflections and connect with like-minded souls, then I invite you to join us as a Slow Friend. You can email me ( aliceelgiewrites@gmail.com ) to be added to this little community at no cost…the paywall is simply to keep this space a little more private and for those who feel able to/wish to, support my offerings).🌟
Or you can:
Resting Into Joy
Tuning into the essence of happiness.
I’m sitting on a boat travelling across an endlessly expansive stretch of sea…pure untainted blue, as if swept clean of all the wounds of life, blank and waiting for me to open myself up to all the wonder that awaits.
My heart beats with nothing but love and gratitude and in this moment I can do nothing but shake off the unworthiness, pack away the self-doubt and instead close my eyes, tip my head back and rest into the joy.
These moments are everywhere as we amble through life, are they not? And yet, often we allow ourselves to be pulled back from the experience of being fully immersed because, “there is too much to do!” or “I’m not worthy of such bliss,” or perhaps, “what’s the point because once it’s over it’s back to the drudgery of everyday life.”
But the thing is, it is the tuning into of these moments that propels us closer to the essence of our truest self, which in turn leads us away from a life of unhappiness. Because happiness cannot be bought like a loaf of bread, instead it is our true nature to be happy and so we must do nothing more than tune into it.
A child is born into this world pure, blinking open their eyes and awaiting direction. It is what is received that then goes on to shape us — it is what we receive in each moment of this life experience that continues to shape us and in this time of overload, never have we been subjected to more.
But what is your truth?
Who are you beneath the layers?
What do you feel in the purest, deepest part of yourself?
Perhaps a worthy reminder is to know that you are not just the story of your life. Instead you are inherently joyful, immanently blissful, and completely deserving of these rapturous glimpses of your innate self.
Oftentimes I become lost in a swirl of self-doubt, wondering where my place is in the world, confused at how I can most truthfully, most honestly, show up and contribute. There are many moments where I hide away, downplay, fail to say, because I have forgotten what lies beneath my layers. I have been sucked into the illusion of what constitutes success and recognise that I don’t match up.
And then I find myself crossing the sea, giving myself over to something bigger than the self defined by wins and losses and I remember…I come back to to the self that is awestruck and mesmerised. I hold the hand of purity and elation, and look with fresh eyes at all I am and all that is here for me. I feel the bliss of deeper understanding, of being open to experiences, of relishing each moment, and I recognise that this material world is trying to fool us. To pull us from all angles, entice us with promises of wealth, success and happiness when in reality, we can touch it all with nothing more than honest surrender.
I let the endless blue, unmarked and without scars, hold my attention. There is nothing that can give me more, show me where I am meant to be more precisely, nor bring me to a state of bliss more eloquently, than this. And so, I rest. I rest into the beauty, into the wisdom, and I remind myself — as I am reminding you also — that we are all worthy of joy.
Thank you for reading/listening.
With love,
Alice 🙏🏻
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