joy as evidence of life

Nov 27

Dear Reader,

There are times when joy feels like an interruption. An emotion that arrives in the middle of everything else and doesn’t quite fit. It can feel strange to laugh when so much remains unresolved, or to feel gratitude when another part of you is still tired, uncertain, or afraid.

But maybe that’s the point. Joy doesn’t need to erase what’s difficult. It reminds us that our story isn’t finished. That even within the heaviness, something inside us is still reaching toward life.

And if joy hasn’t shown up for you in a while, that too is part of being alive. The absence of joy doesn’t mean it’s gone forever, or that you’re doing something wrong. It only means that life has been heavy, that your energy has gone toward endurance and survival. Even then in the most difficult of circumstances, the possibility of joy remains waiting for the smallest opening, ready to return when there’s room.

Life is still happening. We are still here. And the capacity to feel joy, even briefly, is not a denial of pain but a quiet affirmation of life itself.

Yours in the journey,