Two years and ten days ago, I published my first Daily Practice of Joy blog. Today, I begin a new adventure. I hope you will join me.
I posted my last blog on my original Daily Practice of Joy website in December 2016. For the past four months, I have been concentrating on writing my book and thinking about my next chapter -- in life and words. My book, The Way of Being Lost: A Road Map to Your Truest Self, will be published by Ixia Press in February 2018. So, as I pondered where to go next with this Daily Practice of Joy, I decided to follow my own advice and get a little bit lost by wandering down the pathways of my heart, mind, and soul. It has been an amazing journey.
Today, suddenly, I find myself ready to commence the next chapter of my Daily Practice of Joy. How it unfolds is how it unfolds. Isn't that wonderful! But I hope however the road rolls out before me, I will reflecting all the ways I am learning to embrace the evolution of my truest self.
I am the child of two Renaissance Souls -- two people whose omnivorous appetites for life and whose varied interests and passions led them into many flowering fields. My father always told me, "If you limit your interests, you limit your life." He also said, "If you are always curious, you will never be bored."
Although my heart believed every word he said, my head wanted to "fit in". So, for many years, I have tried to put myself into a nice little package that everyone could understand. Problem was, every time I did, the odd parts kept sticking out. At the end of the day, I just never fit. That's when I realized that the only way to really be me was -- to be me. To follow what brings me joy, truly and always. To practice it -- with as much daily dedication as an athlete or a musician. Doing that has changed my life by teaching me how to tell the truth -- first to myself, and then to the world. The Truth that really does set us all free.
By the end of last year, I felt as though I had fallen into a bit of a rut with my blog writing. The pieces were long and a tad laborious at times. I felt like they held less and less joy. Taking this time away from blogging has shown me some of the reasons why. Practice requires diligence, but diligence does not have to feel like duty. Note to self: When creating a daily practice of joy, it's probably a good sign if you actually FEEL joy!
I have reinvigorated my practice -- and that is what I am sharing here. This is kind of a lifestyle inspiration blog. By sharing what I love most with you, I hope to inspire you, too, to tune into your own truest self -- even if it means getting lost to who we've all been told we should be.
So, every day, I will post a practice. A photograph or song, a quote or book. Whatever brings me joy, I will share. In the hopes that it will bring you, too, joy.
I will also blog once a week to share some of the highlights of that week's adventures, explorations, and uncoverings. But mostly, I will joyfully embrace my own unconventionality writ large -- because joy, as I have come to learn, craves sharing. That means sharing whatever comes, however it comes. A rollie coaster ride of joy!
For you, my fellow joy journeyers, I hope that this new incarnation of my Daily Practice of Joy will inspire you to listen, lean, laugh, learn, and love more deeply in your own life, your own practice, and your own relationships -- find more joy in everything you do.
Thank you for joining me on this journey.
In JOY! Victoria