My very first post on ISpyJoy.com was one year ago today.   Creating a space to affirm and share all the places joy is found became my temple, my place to worship and appreciate this amazing life. It has played a vital role in my journey toward happiness.

When I’ve needed nudging, this site has served as a reminder of my commitment to purposely look for and feel the joy that is available at every moment.  It’s my touchstone.

Today, and everyday, I am grateful for this gift I have given myself.

Happy birthday.  …And many more.

(cropped) Bloom True - painting by Flora S. Bowley

Beauty is a source of great joy for me. I find beauty in color and space, lines and angles, circles and odd shapes, wide smiles, deep eyes, and Flora’s paintings.

I found Flora S. Bowley’s paintings this week in a treasure trove called Hunt and Gather. Instantly, I fell in love.

Her art is bold, colorful, rich and complex. Simultaneously soft and strong, decisive, confident and meaningful.  I gazed at the large, visual feasts for a good long while, moving in and out of them, exploring.

It wasn’t until days later that I realized all the things I love about her work are things I want to be. What I find beautiful, it seems, is what I wish to find in myself.  I may have known that already, and tucked away that little pearl for safe keeping. But that is neither here nor there.

The gem is this: if I can find the echoes of beauty within—the moments of boldness, the confident actions, the colorful character traits—I can begin to see myself as a work of art, precious and joyful as Flora’s paintings. And my life, in turn, as a masterpiece.

(cropped) Manifest - painting by Flora S. Bowley

Jill & Kevin's Wedding Entrance (compiled from jkweddingdance.com)

One of the best ways to be happy is look at every thing in a fresh and open-minded way, without the bias of what has been.  Circumstances change and people change; which means outcomes can change.  If we can be willing to begin a meeting, a discussion, a day unfiltered–knowing that every aspect has had an opportunity for growth–our openness leaves space for possibility and surprise.  And a lot more space for joy.

I don’t know Jill or Kevin, but I know they are willing to look at things with a fresh, open mind.  The way they began their wedding attests to that.  Weddings are ceremonies steeped in tradition, from the entrance of the wedding party to the introduction of the newly-joined couple.  Jill and Kevin began their life partnership differently.  They began it with a bright and joyous dance.

Their exuberance for life and love is not only apparent, it’s appreciated and adored by millions.  Nearly 18 million people have watched this video on YouTube.  I’ve seen it at least seven times and their joy, along with their friends and family, makes me cry every time.  The good kind of crying.  You know, the kind where your chest aches from the pressure of your rapidly expanding heart.

Give yourself a gift, watch this video.  Watch it a few times.  Then, when you get out of bed tomorrow morning, before the filters of last week or last month or last year creep in to predetermine your day, remember how Jill and Kevin and their wedding party entered the room, and how beginning the ceremonial start of their life together with an open mind and joyous heart spread a bit of happiness and love to 18 million…and counting.  Then begin your day in joyous dance.

Director of Smiles

Titles are interesting things.  Technically a descriptor, they also tend to create a sort of social hierarchy; ranking a person’s position, and consequently their value,  in the company.  At least, this is the traditional model.  Some (dare I say most?) companies–and people–take titles very seriously.  Every once in a while I see a company break the mold, if only around the edges.  Umpqua Bank, it turns out, is one of those companies.

On a mission to pick up donated items for goodie bags, I was distracted by a digital picture frame on the reception desk in the downtown Portland offices of Umpqua Bank.  It was scrolling images of community service by groups of employees.  Below it was a glass block proudly stating “Director of Smiles.”  Instantly, I smiled.  Uncontrollably.  In sheer delight I asked Bev Masters, the woman sitting there who was in fact full of smiles, if that was her real title.  Sure enough.  She even pulled out her name tag in verification.  I was almost giddy.  For a good 20 minutes afterward, even.

It occurs to me that while I am increasingly skeptical of titles, I hold immense value in this one.  Director of Smiles.  I’m certain Ms. Masters feels happier each and every time she sees those words following her name.  How could she not?  Just learning that somewhere there really is a Director of Smiles lightened my day considerably; and I don’t have any idea what she does all day.

I would wager that every person who sees that beautiful block of glass can’t help but grin and feel a little lighter than they did just moments before.  And a ripple of joy and smiles must inevitably follow.  If that’s all Ms. Masters does all day, I’d say she has one of the most powerful jobs I know of.

Sidewalk Art - NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR

There are many things that make us wealthy.  The abundance and variety of beauty that surrounds us is one of them.

I find beauty much like I find joy–sprinkled lavishly as freckles on the golden cheeks of a child at summer’s end.  Finding beauty adds dimension to the moments of our lives; making their relative shortness wide and deep.

Yesterday I found loveliness unexpected in the form of sidewalk art. What must have taken a fair amount of time, artistry and chalk lingers for countless passers by to appreciate.  What a wonderful, surprising gift.

Life is rich, indeed.

I love to see what sentiments people feel strongly enough about to put on their bumpers. Sometimes I’m amazed at what you can learn about the person driving merely by reading a handful of words.

Here’s one I wouldn’t mind having on my car.

Superhero

It’s always nice to have good examples to follow.  My friend Kristin is setting one of my favorites, and I can already see the effect she’s having on people.

A couple weeks ago she gave her notice at work.  She doesn’t have another job to go to; which is proving to be hard to understand by some amazingly vocal and well-meaning folks around the office.  What Kristin has is a calling.  She now knows, beyond a doubt, what she wants.

She knows what she wants, and she trusts in her ability to arrange the circumstances in her life to accommodate the drummer (however measured or far away) she hears.

I’ve been thinking about Kristin, her certainty and the actions she’s taking as a result. She is leaping, and I absolutely believe she’s going to land on her feet.  She will be more than fine, she’ll be fabulous, because she has what most people look for all their lives and never find: a sound belief in herself and her abilities.

What better example could we have to live by?  Learn more about Kristin and how she’s leaving her job and selling her house to travel around the world at midleap.com.

If you’re willing to live from your convictions and fulfill your destiny, then what others perceive as taking chances are simply the ways you choose to elevate your life.   -Dr. Wayne W. Dyer from Excuses Begone!

Love

In the conference room of my office today I took a quick break from a group envelope stuffing project to sip a bit of my freshly-made mocha.  When the yummy caffeine concoction hit my tongue and warmth slid down my throat I moaned my love and appreciation so audibly that my coworkers stopped their stuffing to look up at me.  I just couldn’t help myself.  I was in pure rapture and sound escaped before my brain could flash the “WARNING: People will think you’re weird” light.

In an attempt at recovery I said, “Oh, I’m sorry.  I just LOVE this mocha.”

That’s when it hit me: joy IS love. Anytime I enjoy something it necessary follows that I love it; otherwise it would be merely acceptable.  I love / enjoy the sunshine, my kids smiles, a nice hot shower, (obviously) good mochas…  It also occurs to me that the things I truly enjoy / love I also feel a deep reverence for.  To me, there is something divine in sunshine, smiling children, hot showers and yes, a really good mocha.

Do you suppose that joy, love and divinity are all the same thing?

What if every time we feel that moaning-good-mocha feeling we are actually sending up little prayers of gratitude and joy?  Mantras of of love and reverence that ripple out and cause distant flowers to bloom?

I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.

-Henry Ward Beecher

Happiness Clusters

I always believed happiness was contagious.  Now, like so many other things I feel innately but tend to doubt without external verification; I can say I know it to be true.

We now have scientific proof that happiness spreads.  James Fowler (UCSD) and Nicholas Christakis (Harvard) recently released the results of a 20-year study showing the “dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network.”

They analyzed data collected from nearly 5,000 people over the course of 20 years and found that happiness, like health, is a collective phenomenon.

If I’m happy, a friend of mine living less than half a mile from me is 42% more likely to be happy because of it. The increased likelihood of happiness drops to 22% if that friend lives within two miles from me.  However, if you’re my next door neighbor, your increased probability of happiness is 34%.

Amazing, yes?   There’s more.  This effect, although somewhat diminished, reaches out to three degrees of separation. Increased probability of happiness for the friend of a friend is 15.3% and 9.8% for the friend of a friend of a friend. The diagrams in this post show the ripple effect of happiness.

WOW.

Examination of this same group of people shows that having an extra $5,000 increased a person’s chances of becoming happier by 2%.  But if a friend of a friend of your friend is happy, it can increase your chances of becoming happier by 9.8%.  So, someone you don’t know and have never met can have a greater influence on your spirits than thousands of dollars in your pocket.

Wow again.

Combine this with the knowledge that being happy greatly improves the likelihood of being healthy and we now have more than ample reason to make choices that support our joy.  Our happiness is not only good for us, it benefits the friend of the friend of our friend.

I don’t know about you, but that thought alone puts a smile on my face.

Welcome

Mom and I spent yesterday wandering.  Mostly on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland.  The neighborhood there is a vibrant and fun and more than a little funky.

The neighborhood is that way, of course, because that’s how the people are who live and work there.  It’s a very welcoming place, with welcoming people.  What I love about them is that they are not afraid to show it.

They are not timid in anticipation of rejection or judgement.  They wear their welcoming on their sleeves and give you the option of taking or leaving it. They are open and confident and free of the need for the good opinion of others.

They paint their houses in any combination of colors that please them and proudly post their desires for “Peace on Earth” where ever they see fit (look closely at the window).

Strolling among such honest, endearing homes it’s easy to be swept up in the warm embrace of joy; content and grateful to find a pocket of life lived out loud.