Serious Joy

A L O H A

Means: "Love" "Welcome" "Sharing" "Parting with Love."

It means giving without calculation or expectation of recompense....

click on photos to grow the Aloha content The past gazes on the present. Does anyone notice it?

"One of the unique characteristics of mammals is that we play, and as you get more complicated in the mammalian structure, you have a greater vocabulary of play, including laughter."

Dacher Keltner PhD

Univ of California, Berkley

Remember losing yourself for hours in nature?

"You need to get away from the notion that a lot of human behavior can be approached rationally, because we are not rational."

Robert Provine

neuroscientist, Univ of Maryland, Baltimore

Look past the cement and you will see a green abundance.

"Laughter is the GPS system of the soul. Humor offers a revolutionary yet simple spiritual paradigm. If you can laugh at yourself, you can forgive yourself. And if you can forgive yourself you can forgive others. Laughter heals and grounds us in a place of hope. It fosters intimacy and honesty in our relationship with each other and with God. And isn't that what grace is all about?"

Rev. Susan Sparks

"The human soul was created through divine laughter."

Egyptian creation Myth

"The Buddha's laugh fills the entire universe."

"Joy is one of the seven factors of enlightenment."

Buddhist teachings

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Life is serious business.

Much too serious to waste in grave seriousness.

"Life, Liberty, & the pursuit of Happiness"

is the founding principle of the United States.

A new idea in it's Enlightenment day.

We pay lip service to happiness all the time-

for ourselves and for others.

But we expect it to take care of itself,

as if it is an inexhaustible resource

that is always burbling over.

Is YOUR joy always burbling over?

Perhaps you will agree with me that we need to pay some much needed attention to the cultivation of joy.

The Hawaiians of old understood that energy & experience follow attention; What we focus on, grows.

What crops are you growing?

A possible first step in crop rotation

is to pay attention to the joy quotient in your life.

Anything we forget to notice, or appreciate, tends to leave us alone. Have you been a good host of joy, or do you think of it with suspicion, sending it back to the end

of your line of priorities?

Just for today, notice the gentle promptings of joy.

Allow them to blossom, even into belly laughs and profligate smiles. Yes, dare to be different.

Notice any "guilt" you may feel for thus "wasting" your time.

The first thing that newbie bird watchers notice, is all of the preciously unnoticed bird life all around them.

May it be the same with you and joy - your neglected friend.

We have made of the Divine a stern judge

(if mostly to judge others).

Dare we believe that Joy is the gift

that the universe wants us to enjoy?

It is certainly my wish for you -

because you are my guest here

and my friend, my Pili Aloha.

Do you need some pressure? Here it is:

Go take joy seriously!

Let me know how it goes.

Warm Aloha, cloudia
(all unattributed words are my own ;-)

bonus points:

King David in Psalms advises us,

"Serve G-d with joy, come before Him with jubilation."

The power of joy is unlimited, for, as stated in the Talmud, "Joy breaks all boundaries."