Finding Joy
The rebel against the darkness
Hi Friends,
Can you feel it? I certainly can.
It’s like watching a three-tier wedding cake being thrown from the top of the Shard and watching it in slow motion. This beautiful, indulgent and pristinely detailed masterpiece – signifying love – coming undone. Layer by layer. Piece by piece. Crumb by crumb.
We all know what’s coming. We all know the concrete pavement of 32 London Bridge Street lays in wait to greet the wedding cake.
Yes, there’s a dark ominous mood that permeates the atmosphere right now. Vladimir Putin is dragging the world into a bloodier time. China is on the brink of economic collapse. The Republicans are gaining ground in the midterms. The UK has become a global laughing stock. The cost of living has gone up. The price of energy has skyrocketed. We can’t afford to turn the lights on for Christmas. Inflation is a tug of war we’re losing, and any attempts to pull back is leaving us with rope burn. What on earth is going on?
Instead of adding more gasoline (not that I can frivolously afford to do so) onto the fire and fanning the flames of doom bait, I want to talk about something else. Something that is smaller, yet in many ways bigger, than current affairs.
Life is suffering.
I know I literally just said I wasn’t spreading more doom bait but bear with me. I don’t mean suffering in an open or obvious sense, though that does qualify too.
What I mean by suffering is that we slowly wither away. We break, and we ache. We long, and we desire. We love, and we lose. Suffering is our shared struggle. Some suffer more than others, but we all experience it.
However, “life is suffering” is kind of the truth. Because it can be alleviated – through joy.
It’s hard to find joy in times like this. But I’m not suggesting for one moment, you bury your head in the sand and let the world burn around you. No, joy is about finding the light inside of you. Joy is the candle inside of you that gently flickers.
Joy is the first sip of your morning coffee. It’s the quiet Sunday morning spent under the covers with your spouse. It’s taking a stroll with a friend and talking about your favourite books. It’s watching your child say their first word, sentence or swear word. It’s a kind gesture offered to you by a stranger. It’s the way a hot shower gently massages away your frustrations after a bad day.
Joy ephemerally alleviates suffering and perhaps finding joy is what we desperately need right now. It’s the inner light that pushes back the anger, despair and melancholy. Finding joy is a defiant act against darkness. It’s standing up straight, with your shoulders back and giving a big fat middle finger to those who are trying to extinguish the glimmer of hope inside of us.
Joy is bigger than suffering. It’s the warmth and energy we need as we head into a cold, expensive and cruel winter. Joy is defiant and proud. It’s rebellious in its beauty and compassion.
We all know what’s coming.
We all know the concrete pavement lies in wait. We’re all afraid of the same thing. We’re all waiting for death to greet us.
But our inner light does not have to die with us. In the immortal words of the poet, Dylan Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Work hard. Pay attention. Be kind. Help others that are less fortunate. Dig our heels in and fight like hell.
For when the darkness closes around us, let the warmth of your inner light radiate and let it out into the world.
As long as we burn brightly, darkness will never win.
— Jason Vu Nguyen