Ode to Joy
Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is a call for a return to the divine dimension of being human – fraternity, bound together in community, and all of the universal friendship tropes stitched together. Last night, I experienced this great joy.
Yesterday, Friday, closing out the week, was a day of being pulled in multiple directions with the always expanding to do list that begs me to complete it and yet taunts me with additions. I got through most of it and went to my friend, Ann Madden’s show that was so delightful. Ann’s art is exquisite, and so is the work of her fellow artists, Carmen Lugo and Jenny Day. Then there was the crowd – ah, I love being among these people – artists and art lovers and true supporters of beauty. These are my people. Oh Joy.
I skirted off for a quick bite with a friend and her daughter, and then drove home to my cozy house where I slipped into lovely deep purple silk pajamas, made a fresh cup of hot tea and restarted a series on Netflix – Younger – that has me enthralled. I commented to my dogs in passing – is this the best life or what?
I feel like it is.
The moments of joy come more often than they ever did before now. I am in my sixties and the strong challenges that had me in their grip for the last decade have abated or ended. Now that I am not in survival mode, I’ve entered a thrival mode of joy.
I remember the first thunderbolts of joy in Cafe Puccini and other moments when time stopped and I didn’t know how it happened. I just knew something was different. I didn’t understand the power of a moment. I hadn’t read Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. I didn’t know my therapist, Adam, who says: “Rachel, your perfect moment is in this perfect breath.”
Joy comes when desire fades. Joy comes when you least expect it.
Know this: joy comes.
Last night was very gemütlich. Gemütlich is joy – the feeling of cozy, of being safe, of having all that you need. You could have this feeling in the company of friends and even by yourself. My gemütlich came from having been with my friends, then having a meal with a friend, and then alone in my cozy house.
I went to bed scanning my body. I survived a fall onto a handtruck. An injection into my thumb has helped the throbbing pain. My cataract in my left eye is problematic enough to finally get attention. My hip and its hitched pain has subsided to nearly gone.
I am at peace with body.
I am safe in my home.
I linger in my cozy bed.
I am free of longing, desire, and yearning at the moment.
This joy is a state of vulnerability I welcome – all is right with my world.
In this calm, joy enters like a new friend.
