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Choosing Joy

The feeling of happiness that comes from doing something worthwhile.

By Chris Dunmire, CurrentLiving.com

“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” —Wilfred T. Grenfell

When I was enrolled in Eric Maisel’s creativity coaching courses, we talked a lot about the subject of “meaning-making”. Meaning-making is a theme that runs through a few of Maisel’s books focused on coaching artists, writers, performers, and other creatives ("Coaching the Artist Within" and "The Van Gogh Blues") and it is usually achieved by people who are engaged earnestly, honestly, and deeply with their art or craft.

Meaning-making could also be described as “doing something worthwhile” in one’s life that results in a sense of accomplishment, well-being, and joy. For the artist, it may very well be acting on his creative impulses and expressing himself through paint or performance. For the non-artist, it could be anything that meets the need to explore what’s within their personal potential. Some find this in teaching, volunteering, playing sports, developing new skills, traveling, and engaging mind, body and spirit. It’s all time and energy well-invested and worthwhile.

I was inspired to write this piece after reading the opening quote by Wilfred T. Grenfell who said that “Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” I am ever amazed at the simplicity of such wisdom spoken in so few words, but with meaning so vast and life-changing for each of us if we just pay attention.

As I grow older and move through more layers of life, I become more aware of the many masks and veneers we use and hide behind, sometimes out of fear and ignorance, and sometimes out of choice. I have treaded many years on their edges, often believing — even unconsciously — that “ease, riches, and the praise of men” were the ultimate marks of a life well-lived and necessary seed to acceptance of self and valuing one’s own worth and contributions.

Many of us have awakened to how fleeting such external measures are for our lives IF that is all that we have. Do we only believe that we are worthy and wonderful when others tell us so? Then we lack within ourselves a deeper, more rooted self-sustaining system for nourishing, embracing, and loving who we are on account of our just being, our creative potential, and living this miraculous gift of life we came into head-first after growing in our mother’s womb for nine months.

We cannot rely on others to make us whole in this regard — we must do this for and within ourselves. We do this by making our lives rich with meaning — doing something worthwhile that utilizes those deeper, authentic parts of us that long to be explored and expressed. Our love, our creativity, our gifts and talents. And when we do, we naturally come to experience a sense of personal fulfillment, well-being, and ultimately, deep joy.

It’s very likely that like love, joy exists as a gradient spectrum with various levels of intensity. There certainly are days when the energy of joy may be higher or lower within us, just as the moon waxes and wanes, but it’s always ever-present. We can choose to experience a greater intensity of joy by our inner thoughts and outward actions and by the meaning-making we engage in week-to-week, day-to-day, and moment-to-moment. Choose joy. •

© 2007 Chris Dunmire, CurrentLiving.com. All rights reserved. (08/26/07) Please do not duplicate this article elsewhere without my permission.

About the Author
Chris Dunmire is creatively engaged in life as an artist, writer, humorist, and publisher of the popular Creativity Portal Web site. She's trained as a creativity coach with Eric Maisel, Ph.D., and develops projects and playbooks to encourage creative thinking, artistic expression, and play in people of all ages. Learn more about Chris's books at CreativeSlush.com.