Joy Rising

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~ Thich Nhat Hahn

This morning, I woke up happy.  Now if I was a man, that sentence would have meant something entirely different so thankfully, this blog post will remain PG or as my brother says when referring to me "PG but mostly G" so please no awkward giggling when I refer to "joy rising" :)

So why is today different than any other day (not that I usually wake up a complete grump!)?   Did I dream of John Cusack?  Sadly, no.  Did I dream of kissing a man?   No, but I have been having lots of kissing dreams lately...what could that mean?  Did I wake up happy simply because I slept in until 9:51am?  Just a side note to say that I freakily discovered while getting my Facebook updates this morning that BFF posted "Waiting on my favourite blogger to post!" around 9:51am.  Coincidence?!?   I can’t help but wonder if her favourite blogger posted yet?    Oh well, I don't have time to worry about that because I have to post on my own blog  :P 

It’s also important to note (okay, it's actually not that important!) that BFF sent me the following text at 10:04am "Are you busy blooging? :P" but at that point I was still in bed basking in the glory of having slept in until 9:51am (I went to bed at 9:30pm!) and having the sun shine into my room through the blinds, hitting the crystal hanging in my window which illuminated my bedroom beautifully. So did I wake up feeling happy because of the sun shining in my bedroom or was it because I had over 12 hours of sleep?  The truth is that I have no idea and happiness without rhyme or reason is a beautiful thing :)

I must admit that I only got out of bed at 10:29 am which made me panic a little bit (just a little…it wasn’t a full-blown panic attack!) because I started thinking that I’ve lost 25% of my waking hours (that's ¼ of my day!) since I normally wake up at 7am and go to bed at 9pm (last night was a late night for me!).  So waking up at 9:51am then only getting my ass out of bed at 10:29am was definitely not a joy rising moment (although if my name was Joy, it would be!).

Well, if I'm being honest, the joy rising this morning may have been due to the fact that I had a wonderful day yesterday.  I spent the day with…wait for it…my brother!  I know what you're thinking "Oh how sweet of a sister to say that about her brother" but I urge you to hold that thought!  Okay, so the happiness may not be due entirely to the fact that I spent the day with my brother but could be because we got to spend the day shopping!!!  Yes, that’s right…a day of traffic jams in parking lots, pushy people with their carts, and line ups at the cash.  A day of shopping most definitely makes my joy rise...not!!!  So if it wasn't the shopping that made me happy, maybe my purchases made me happy?  I bought a new winter jacket, a new toque and 14 pairs of socks (I must live in Canada, eh?).  I also bought a new Roots bag for travelling to and from my office and as a carry-on for the plane.  Papers, books, pashmina, purse can all fit in there (and an extra pair of underwear which my mom taught me I should bring with me when travelling in case my luggage gets lost...don't ask!).  But they're just material possessions, after all, so I doubt that was the source of joy rising.  So if it wasn't the shopping or the purchases, maybe it was my brother? Then again, it could be the fact that I got to see my parents yesterday or maybe it was lunch at The Works, a yummy, burger joint, that brought on so much happiness that it oozed (like the cheese on my burger!) into today?  It might not have been the simple act of having lunch with my brother but rather the veggie burger topped with avocado, caramelized onions and Havarti cheese?  Yes, that must be it!  Actually, I think I finally figured it out...I woke up happy knowing that half of my veggie burger is sitting in my fridge waiting to be consumed :)

Wait a minute, I really need to think about this…maybe it was because of my brother?  All of the happiness from car dancing with him may have left an imprint on my heart resulting in joy rising this morning.  Then again, when I think about car dancing, I also think about the singing that occurs whilst car dancing, and it's not all happiness!  Sadly, I end up thinking about Sarah's pet peeve which has somehow turned into my very own pet peeve:  people who sing along with the music but don't know the words to the song!   Now I don't want to embarrass my brother publicly (especially since this blog post is dedicated to joy!) so let me start by saying that I believe Sarah’s pet peeve was born as a result of my inability to sing the correct lyrics to all of my favourite songs.  Since I’m all about bringing joy into people’s lives, and because I love my brother so much, I'm going to post the lyrics to his favourite song along with the video so he can learn the actual words (you're welcome, Bro!).

Rihanna - ‘We Found Love’ Lyrics

Yellow diamonds in the light

And we’re standing side by side

As your shadow crosses mine

What it takes to come alive

It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny

But I’ve gotta let it go

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

Shine a light through an open door

Love and life I will divide [JustJared.com]

Turn away cause I need you more

Feel the heartbeat in my mind

It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny

But I’ve gotta let it go

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place

Dancing to that tune is joy rising!  Actually, dancing always makes me happy so I hope you took a break from reading my blog to dance and make your joy rise :)

Now I’m also wondering if maybe I woke up happy today because of today's plans.  Don't get too excited!  No, I don't have a hot date planned.  No, I'm not going to try to solve the Rubik's cube in under one minute.  No, I don't plan on publishing 3 blog posts today (sorry!).   No, I didn't plan on reading "War and Peace" from cover to cover.  I simply planned on catching up on Oprah’s Lifeclass  (I’m way behind!) but since I somehow chose to sleep my day away (!!!), I’m not sure how many episodes I’ll be able to watch especially since I have a blog post to write, a half of a veggie burger to eat and since it’s going up to 15 degrees Celsius today, I also have some fresh air to breathe!  Not to mention the loads of laundry that need to be done, the vacuuming, the dusting, the window washing, the raking….oh how quickly the joy dissipates!   Now for those of you who love Oprah as much as I do, you’ll know that I stole borrowed the term  “joy rising” from Oprah but it’s okay because she actually  stole borrowed it from a guest on her show who was describing the experience of being part of the mob flash flash mob on Oprah with Black Eyed Peas:

I remember watching this episode and thinking "what the hell is wrong with the woman dressed in blue in the front row?" because she was the only person dancing then I started thinking "what the hell is wrong with the rest of the people for not dancing...are they that stiff in Chicago?".  Eventually, I figured out that it was all planned. Sadly, that was probably 3 minutes into the song :P

So the guest who coined the term "joy rising" described his experience as a mob flasher flash mobber as joy rising (I know it makes me happy watching it!) so Oprah has continued to use that term on Oprah’s Lifeclass (Fridays are “joy rising” day so she talks about the moments on The Oprah Show that allowed her and the audience to experience joy rising) and now I’m using it in my blog post.   By the way, if you’re interested, you can still view all of the webcast components of Lifeclass (there’s a one-hour LIfeclass on television, which have all been recorded on the PVR, followed by a one-hour webcast on Facebook or Oprah’s website).  The webcasts have all been archived on her website for those of us who didn’t have the time to view them live.

Seeing that mob flash flash mob made me think of another mob flash flash mob that also resulted in joy rising for me (and tears!): 

I'm not sure why but I can't add it as a video so I'm sharing the link to the website "I believe she's amazing".  It's for a good cause so scroll down on that site to see the video.   It's a moving flash mob (no pun intended!). 

Not surprisingly, that video made me think of yet another "joy rising" video....Sophia Grace singing Super Bass:

And even better than that is Sophia Grace meeting Nicki Minaj on Ellen:

What about the joy that rises when you watch these two twin babies have a conversation?

I always love watching the reunion between these two men and Christian the lion which I think really captures joy rising between man and animal (I love my cats!).  Have you seen this video yet (don't mind the music...you might want to press mute!)?  Makes me cry every time...tears of joy!

What about the video of the "mini Warbler" singing the Glee version of "Teenage Dreams"?

Speaking of joy rising (ahem!)....here's Taye Diggs on Ellen:

And while I’m on the subject of joy rising (double ahem!)....

Photo credit

“One joy shatters a hundred griefs.” ~ Chinese proverb
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I found my camera battery charger in BFF's car.  Now that's joy rising!  So much for cleaning out my closet :P

So what makes you smile or your joy rise (in a non-explicit way!)?  Do you have a favourite video you'd like to share with us?   Or maybe joy rising is simply receiving a text message or call from your daughter who is away at university?  Oh wait, that’s me :)

Today I dare you to find something that makes you smile, and while you’re at it, remember to pay that smile forward so someone else can experience joy rising! 

“Joy delights in joy.” ~ William Shakespeare


P.S.  After reading this blog post, Sarah kindly sent me the following text message: "Flash mob not mob flash".   The errors have since been corrected...thanks Sarah!  Now that I know better, mob flasher does sound pretty funny so the lesson is that you can find joy in your errors too :)