The Inconvenience of Joy

“I will never apologise for embracing joy and beauty - even when the world is falling apart – for joy and beauty are the fuel for my activism”.

These words by Karen Walrond inspired this week’s conversation on Joy, and how cultivating joy is both a way to resource ourselves and build the resilience needed to meet the challenges of our world. Joy is often seen as being the same thing as happiness, and yet these two emotions are profoundly different. The practice of joy is embedded into all world religions and can become a deeply spiritual practice – as well as a beautifully infectious state to find ourselves in.

In this week's conversation we dive into the meaning of joy, how it shows up in our lives; how activists across history have cultivated joy in their lives and work and what happens when we learn to practice joy as part of our daily rhythms.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Mission: Joy – Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu (video)
• Habits for practising joy - ThoughtBox (PDF)
• Seeking Language Large Enough – David Whyte / On Being (podcast)
• Climate Courage Campaign – Climate Majority Project (website)
• Joy Over Fear – St Ebbe’s School (website)
• Schools of Dreams - Kimberley Oliff Cooper TEDx Talk (video)
• The Fun Habit - Mike Rucker (book)
• Glorious – MaMuse (Rachel’s current favourite joyful song)

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The world is feeling a very broken place right now, with all that is erupting out of the Middle East, and with continued suffering across the world. When we do engage in conversations about what is happening, we often find ourselves sidetracked into the dance of moral outrage and the opportunity for a conversation is lost. And yet simple human connection sits at the heart of all that we're yearning for - each of us carrying the innate need to be seen, to be heard and to belong. So what happens when we offer to meet those needs in others, simply by noticing their shared humanity?

This week's conversation is raw, personal, honest and deeply human. With no apology. For we don't need to hide our humanity to be professional. In fact, that is perhaps the reason why so many of our institutions have become so inhumane and it also holds an invitation for how we can each start to re-humanise the landscapes we are part of.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Most shocking second a day video - Save the Children (video)
• Human: A Portrait of our World - Yann Arthus-Betrand (film & photography)
• Immigration & Refugees curriculum -ThoughtBox (learning resource)
• Meeting a broken world - Rachel Musson (blogpost)

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We talk a lot about change but living through it is something else entirely. Change is the only constant, and yet change can feel deeply uncomfortable - fearful at times - and not necessarily something that many of us openly embrace. In a world constantly talking about the need for change, systems-change and changemakers, there is a deep energy of possibility in this invitation - and a deep necessity when we realise that the current context is making us unwell - and yet which is the direction of change to follow?

In this week's episode we reflect on the messy, non-linear and often uncomfortable nature of personal and systemic change. Whether that's the changing nature of relationships or the constantly shifting and changing climate; changes in culture and society to systems change and changes in our brains and bodies, we dive deep into the different ways we can embrace the uncertainty of change and find a more easeful relationship with a world in constant shift.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Common Cause Foundation (website/organisation)
• The Three Horizons model - Bill Sharpe (website)
• Bio-leadership Fellowship (website / movement)
• Stories of Triple WellBeing - Rachel Musson (ebook)
• There are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak (book)
• Luna Living - Kirsty Gallagher (book)
• Sacred Geometry (7 circles)
• Schools of Dreams - Kimberley Oliff Cooper (TedX talk)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.