Joy
Joy: Such a small word to have such a huge impact on a person's world view and their own view of themselves and their circumstances.
At the beginning of Anna Karenina, Tolstoy wrote, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” In this group dynamic each member of the family is affected by the same factors as the other members of the group, and when there is a deficiency the group is "unhappy." As such happiness or its lack are external to the individual. Joy, on the other hand, is individualistic.
While outside events may stifle happiness, joy can exist on its own unless smothered. Not feeling, accepting or recognizing joy is a choice. A person can be beaten, pampered, spit on, praised, poor or wealthy, and still feel joy in the sight of a early spring flower...if they so choose. Owning those moments or periods of joy can have an affect on how you interact with the world and those around you and even yourself.
Although, a person may need to re-learn (we all knew this as children) to recognize those moments of joy, once they are recognized, those occasions can help sustain us through periods of unhappiness.
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Joy is internal and yet it can be shared. Joy comes to some of us in the beauty of music and dance. Your choices will most likely be different from mine because joy is individualistic. However, I would like to share some moments that I found joyous.
The individual celebrating the life of another--Grace O'Malley also known as Granuaile was a well known chieftain in 16th century Ireland--in dance and music:
[video:https://youtu.be/fCDDnHSzAHg]
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Joy grows in the sharing:
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[video:https://youtu.be/SNs0vKDvs0g]
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It can be simple:
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[video:https://youtu.be/69AvNm8zubo]
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It can be complex:
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[video:https://youtu.be/5iLL57puZPM?t=4m8s]
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One does not even have to understand it (my timing settings are being ignored...starts at :50):
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[video:https://youtu.be/WLygl1-0FTA?t=51s]
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It can be smothered or celebrated:
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[video:https://youtu.be/aqRjbeSuHi8]
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Comments
Good selections. Joy is amazing.
I find joy everyday now. Two of my grandkids, age 4 and 11 months live with me. Nothing like the joy of small children. The video of the soccer game in Australia is cool. 95k people singing. When humans want to we can do great things together without knowing each others politics.
"Joy is amazing." Yes, it is.
Unfortunately, many people shove it aside for the mundane things in life. It needs to be savored.
The Australian game singing reminded me of how much power there is in song. 95k people singing in unison can create a powerful message that angry words could never convey. I am thinking maybe the mall in Washington with thousands singing Do Re Mi. = ) --(Not necessary to be political, just a coming together of people: a recognition of humanity.)
Another moment of joy:
[video:https://youtu.be/7EYAUazLI9k]
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Whole stadium comes together to honor fan who died in the stands
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/13/football-borussia-dortm...
Not quite what I had in mind for the topic of joy,
but I did manage to work my way to the idea that there can be joy in seeing people come together in an act of humanity during a time of sorrow for others.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” seems in a way even more appropriate
for such times, since its lyrics sing of braving storm and rain and dark.
When my son was very young
he loved to sing 'Joy to the world all the boys and girls..' in the bathtub at the top of his voice. Joy echoed all over the house. My other son as a tiny kid said 'Oh Joy!' whenever he encountered some small or large miracle of life.
Here 1,500 people singing some joy
That's wonderful.
Imagine 1500 people in every country singing that simultaneously. Imagine all the people, living life in peace. Keep hope alive. Maybe this is the way.
Imagine!
[video:https://youtu.be/L7IP4UlXvG8]
I do believe it is the way.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
the first rock and roller had some musical thoughts on joy:
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Oh, that is sooo wonderful!
Thank you!! Although, now I am feeling nostalgic for San Diego and the free summer concerts from the San Diego Symphony Pops--Louie, Louie played by a symphony orchestra while sailing boats swayed in the harbor, their lights shimmering on the water along with a full moon casting a glow on us mesmerized visitors from the mundane world.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Thanks! The sounds of your children made me laugh.
We need to take a lesson from your younger son and start reminding ourselves of "Oh, joy" at those moments when it occurs. If nothing else it solidifies the moment for us.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
For many now, Joy cannot be seen through a camera
(other than all of us at Knucklehead's photos). Camera mementos can act as a filter, so we don't see with our eyes and commit that moment to memory. I find greater joy through my eyes. And still try for at least one joy or awe sighting per day.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
I have always
been superstitious about camera pictures, I kind of believe they do steal your soul. I love it that you find joy and awe through your eyes. You'd think I'd like photo's as I'm a visual artist. I get my daily joy and awe unfiltered through a lens. It's a startling experience as all of a sudden there it is joy from life in all it's glory. As a painter I tried to remember the awesome visual moment rather then capture it in a camera. I do love looking at photo's by artist's like Knucklehead because they like some paintings share the joy and awe of the artist's encounter.
Still photos have trouble catching joy because
the moment is taken out of context. In the videos I posted there is the joy of watching or listening to the celebration itself and there is joy in seeing a like feeling in the faces of the participants. The music itself can bring joy even without the accompanying sights. I often find joy in the written word...a turn of a phrase, an image that comes to mind.
When I draw a graceful line, I sometimes stop and rejoice in the beauty of that line even though it may be erased later. I find joy in the images that come to mind when listening to music or reading or by a thought that crossed my mind. Most never find their way to pen and paper or the computer, but they are there for me to reflect on.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
on the other hand, there's this:
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Not being a sports person in general,
what I see is a person who appears to be about to land painfully on his stomach. Although, the crowd does seem to be finding some joy in it. = )
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
and immediately after falling on his stomach, he's
going to be buried under a pile of 20 sweatsoaked men with sharp steel blades on their feet.
regardless, he's pretty fuckin' happy in the moment.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
LOL, that also sounds painful.
Although, some might find joy in being piled under "20 sweat soaked men." Not so sure about the steel blades though. = ) Hey, but as long as he had that moment of joy, nothing can take that away from him.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
it was 45 years ago, and i remember watching it happen.
at first, we thought he had scored the (Stanley-Cup-winning) goal while flying through the air -- but in the replay you see that he scored and then as he skated through in front of the goalie the sour-looking defenseman got a stick-blade under one of Orr's shin guards and just lifted. Orr's arms out in superman style because at the time that was the universal goal celebration in Canadian hockey -- arms straight up in the air.
it's the most famous photograph in the history of hockey, by far.
and i've never forgotten the swarm of boston bruins players rushing over from the bench and piling onto him. it really looked like a swarm of bees, even on black and white TV (their colors were black, yellow and white).
it's interesting that the photo is taken in black and white. was color film at the time simply not fast enough for photographing a high-speed sport like hockey?
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Black and white is often used for
dramatic effect rather than color, but to answer your question, yes, high speed color was available just not as high and clear as B&W.
Ok, let me get this straight--as I said, I am not a sports person--this photo is the equivalent of the "Dewey Beats Truman" photo? If so, then the photographer is probably the only one who got lasting joy out of that moment.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Yeah, if you follow sports at all, it's up there with
Dewey meets Truman. At the time, Orr was the best hockey player in the world, at the top of his game, had just won his first championship by scoring the gamewinner in sudden-death overtime, and the shot was captured at the perfect instant from the perfect angle. other photographers caught slightly different moments from different angles, but this one is "The Goal". You can find autographed copies at any decent memorabilia sale. And yes, needless to say, the photographer has profited very nicely.
Off the top of my head, I can't actually think of any photo from any other sport that is so definitive.
BTW, several years ago, a poll of Boston sportswriters voted Orr the greatest athlete in the city's history. That's saying something, considering Babe Ruth played for the Red Sox before they traded him to the Yankees, not to mention Larry Bird and Ted Williams.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
I really don't follow sports;
even though some of the names you mentioned are familiar, I could not definitively say even what sport they played much less teams. My basic experience with sports was while I was dating a guy over 10 years ago who was into them (mostly racing, football and basketball). So I learned a lot about NASCAR, and a little about some other stuff. Enough to root against his teams. I got quite good at making players on TV fumble. = )
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
You'll never walk alone.
Thank you for a wonderful essay and a few minutes of joy for this Liverpool fan.
A moment that brought us joy:
Last fall as my wife and I took our daily walk along the creek we stopped at a favorite spot to spy on the trout and crawfish.Suddenly a river otter popped up in the shallows not ten feet from us.He perused us for a moment,put his paws on his chest and twitched his whiskers as if to say " hmm you humans seem acceptable ",then he was gone.Seconds later he appeared again slightly farther away,raised a paw slightly as if to say " bye gotta go ",then disappeared into deeper water.
We shared a moment of stunned silence and the burst out laughing and shouting "oh my god a river otter,oh my god a river otter". It was amazing and ridiculous all at once. We talked and laughed about it for the rest of the day and bored our friends and family with the tale for weeks.
Thanks again for bringing the joy.
Solidarity
Thank you for the image of the river otter. That
brought joy to me in just hearing the description of the moment.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass