Joy

"You took my joy - I want it back."

- Lucinda Williams

Living more simply is not just about saving money, or reducing your impact on the Earth. For many simple living people, it is about finding more joy.

When we reduce the amount of busyness and stuff in our lives we can focus more on the simple activities of life where love, magic, and mystery can be found. 

Most often, these are activities that can not be bought anywhere for any amount of money. Chasing joy through conspicuous consumption is a dead end.

Where do I find joy?

For me, I am talking about things like watching the sun rise or set, or watching snow fall.

I find joy in cooking every day with wholesome ingredients to make healthy, tasty meals. 

A more recent example was going on 5 snowshoe hikes over 5 days. 

Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy.

There is a lot of stuff going on in the world today that can take your joy. 

But if we don't have the possibility of producing joy in our lives, what have we got? Not much.

That is what a simple life can do for you - increase the amount of joy by eliminating as much of that which is joyless as possible.

A few more joy-inducing experiences for me would be:

- seeing several serious signs of spring (like my garden beginning to grow)

- alliteration (I am easily joyed)

- only putting out one bag of garbage every few weeks

- spotting wildlife while out in nature

- making Linda laugh

- not owning a vehicle (a case where spending less money is yielding more joy)

One might live more simply to save money, or to reduce one's impact on the planet. 

But doing so for those reasons can also bring joy.

Hmm, maybe living simply is all about finding more joy. That is certainly my experience.

What brings you joy?