Join me on Zoom for Club Joy: “Opening the Door to Joy”

            In my recent blog posts, I’ve written about how important it’s feeling to me these days to focus on connecting with folks in joyful ways. I believe that these moments of positivity nourish us and serve as a respite amidst everything in our world that can make it hard for us to maintain a stable foundation of joy. And the responses I’ve received to my recent posts have given me the sense that others are also wanting to bring more joy into their lives.   So, the question arose in my mind a few days ago: What might I do to help us tap into joy on a regular basis, together, to expand Club Joy beyond the bounds of my physical garage space?

            Nudged by a feeling of curiosity about this, I sat down the other morning to reflect. I silently expressed my wish to gain some insight, and then just sat there, allowing my mind and heart to settle into a calm space. Before long, ideas began to bubble up from deep inside me – concrete ideas for how to help us create and nurture our storehouses of joy. Just contemplating these possibilities gave me a feeling of such lightness – and joy!

            I’ve decided to start off with the idea I’m calling “Opening the Door to Joy”. And we’ll do it on Zoom, since we can’t all come to my physical Garage Club/Club Joy in person!

            “Opening the Door to Joy” is all about creating a safe space – free of talk about anything negative or calamitous or worrying – where we can relax into a peaceful frame of mind and heart, and invite joy to join us. Here’s what you can expect:

            I’ll start our Zoom gathering by welcoming everyone, and bringing our focus to being present with each other in this virtual Club Joy. I’ll spend a few minutes talking about the role that joy plays in my life. Then I’ll offer a guided meditation that will help us inwardly open our hearts to joy.

            After this meditation, if there are people in the group who would like to share a joyful experience with us, I’ll invite a couple of them to speak for a minute or two. But there’s no pressure at all to speak!  If you want to just sit quietly and listen, that is perfect, too. The whole point is for us to be in a safe space where we can open up our hearts and invite joy to come on in. And there’s no “right” way for that to happen: the experience will be different for each of us. For some of us, joy may flow in as we simply sit in silence in the presence of others who are telling their brief stories. For others of us, joy might arise as we share a story. I look forward to each of us discovering for ourselves how it happens!

            After we’ve had the chance to hear a few joyful stories, I’ll close us out with a brief wish for preserving whatever joy and positivity we’ve taken in.

            That’s it. About 45 minutes. Maybe up to an hour, but no more.

            Our first “Opening the Door to Joy” gathering on Zoom will be next weekend, on Sunday, November 29^th, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. And there’ll be a second one the following Sunday, too, on December 6^th, at the same time.

Here’s the link you can use to join:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81162398559?pwd=b041QzVtajR2bmhlSVAvcHI4SnhTUT09

            The passcode is “Joy”, and the Zoom meeting ID is 811 6239 8559. No need to register or RSVP. And do feel free to forward the meeting info to someone you think might enjoy (enJOY) being there with us.

            I hope you’ll join in! Time’s a-wastin’. Let’s open the door and invite joy to come in and visit.