I’m often looking for the deepest understanding of what is truly trustworthy. For me, joy and beauty are trustworthy as reliable guides that enrich and sustain our lives.
Joy, as opposed to happiness, is a more enduring aspect occurring in our lives. Happiness might be a fleeting moment, but joy is a cultivated state of mind and appreciation.
Also, joy and beauty are deeply intertwined— experiencing one often leads to the other. They are mutually reinforcing. Joy and beauty are not limited by the dogmas as espoused by religions or cultural boundaries. They are universal and personal.
Joy is often described as profound contentment and can even persist in adversity. Joy leads to resilience. In my workshops on finding true work, I advise participants to follow their joy. This is much more profound and reliable than following money. It uplifts us, inspires, comforts, and renews our being. Joy sustains hope.
Joy can be cultivated by the practice of mindful awareness, paying attention to the moment and being open to life’s possibilities. Joy is powerful; it transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. It also heightens the feeling of being alive, and the more you share it, the more it enriches your surroundings. It is in the music of laughter, and in the pleasure of touching and being touched by the beauty and sweetness of life.
For example, yesterday, I was in line to pay for the oil change on my car and had an incidental contact with Josh, a most joyful man, who confided that he had once been in prison and had turned his life around. He embodied an exuberance of being alive, with good health, and a home of his own. In that moment, as we waited for the cashier, his high spirit and joy were infectious. He touched my heart. In this time of constant troubles and extreme isolation, having meaningful, joyful, even though short, interactions with others while out and about can lift your spirits and be helpful to the other person. We never know what a brief encounter, sharing joy or beauty, might be just the medicine someone else needs.
Joy and beauty offer a reliable source of meaning, motivation, and comfort beyond external circumstances, providing an enduring guide for living a fulfilled life. Beauty is rooted in a sense of wonder, delight, and connection with something larger than ourselves and can be found in nature and meaningful relationships.
We can be surprised by the beauty of a single, small flower growing in the crack in a sidewalk, the cheerful cacophony of chickadees at the bird feeder, by the glorious colors of a sunset at day’s end, or by the simple receipt of words of kindness. The abundance of beauty surrounds us if we stop to notice it, and joy acts as a beacon, encouraging us to look forward with optimism, openness, curiosity, and hope.
I am profoundly liberated when I embrace beauty and joy. These trustworthy practices give me an enduring sense of meaning, reminding me that the world holds the potential for renewal, creativity, and inspiration, fueling hope that positive change is possible. Beauty becomes a signpost to the Earth’s relational harmony. The Taittiriya Upanishad states that creation arises from divine delight.
In essence, beauty and joy are not merely aligned with cosmic consciousness—they are its natural expressions and gateways. As Sri Swami Sivananda notes, this state unveils a world “bathed in the sea of satisfying love,” where beauty and joy become inseparable from existence itself.
