Joy!
Some dollops of wonder and nourishment for these difficult days.
Welcome to another edition of The Body, Brain, & Books. If you enjoy reading these quick, insightful interviews brimming with wisdom and hope, please subscribe to Beyond!
Hello Dearest Beyonders,
I’m guessing most of us are pretty stressed about tomorrow, so I thought it might be nice to offer up some joy. I close every longform interview by asking the writer what brings them joy in this often hard world of ours. I gathered some of their answers below to buoy our spirits through tomorrow and beyond.
Enjoy!
xJane
When We Vote We Win.
Warm vanilla pudding
“It’s essential to find inner coherence but you’re not going to find outer coherence. As more and more systems collapse, and countries collapse, and ideas collapse, and structures collapse, and families collapse, you had best go inside. Because otherwise, you're going to collapse.
Once you find your way to the center, there's only joy. There’s only warm vanilla pudding.”
—
[read Liz’s full interview]***
Everything animals!
“Thinking about animals, reading about animals, teaching books that are full of animals, that is where I'm finding joy primarily.”
— Pam Houston [read Pam’s full interview]
***
An ice cream bar or two
“This is so embarrassing: I've been eating an ice cream bar a day or sometimes two. I don't know why. I’ve found these ones I like at Whole Foods. Every day, I find myself looking forward to five o'clock. We've been watching football which we've never watched before. How about you? What are you doing?”
—
[read George’s full interview]***
Planting hope
“Nature brings joy and delight all the time. We must to be present to see it. America is going into winter. One of the most powerful things people can do is plant spring bulbs in the winter because in doing so, you're planting hope and delight for the future.”
—
[read Kemi’s full interview]***
Alone…
“I feel so much joy alone. It's interesting because I think that I have friends who think that they are the only ones who I'm not seeing a lot. But really, for about two and a half years, I've hardly seen anyone but Meg. It has been such an insular time. I used to be such an out-going person, always having people around. Sort of the conductor of the party. And that's not what this time has been at all; though I feel more love for my community than I ever have, I've just wanted to spend most of this time alone.”
—
[read Andrea’s full interview]***
…and in the midst
“I think joy is often expressed by how we help each other carry our sorrows. Or the submission to our entanglements. The fact that we're inextricable from one another. And the ways that we practice those things could be the way you greet people on the sidewalk. It could be how we open the door for people. It could be how we reach for things for people who can't reach as high. Or how we do this, or we do that. It could be how people take care of their kids or take care of kids who aren't their kids or take care of old people who aren't their old people. It's happening all the time, every second, we are in the midst of this.”
— Ross Gay [read Ross’ full interview]
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Oh how delightful! I need this, Jane. And, of course, my cat also brings me so much joy!
That Ross Gay quote made me instantly relax. Thank you for nurturing us, Jane. Sending every finger crossed for tomorrow 💞