Having some joy is essential to life

Thank you for all the feedback from my last contribution in Midweek which was about duality — it seemed to hit a chord with a few people.

Feedback is always appreciated, good or not so good, as either way there is always something to learn. Speaking of feedback, I have to shout out to Kate Stewart — columnist in the Wanganui Chronicle on Saturday, March 17. You reminded us about the need for humour and to not take ourselves so seriously all the time.
You made me stop and think about a whole section of my life that has been negotiated away and neglected for a few years now, and I really miss it. I don't want to be 'that friend' who needs to be reminded to 'lighten up'.

I've been lost in the darkness before and it's extremely difficult to find any laughter or joy when you're in that black hole.
Having a laugh and feeling some joy is crucial to our mental health, and for those of us who have to manage extreme sensitivity to our environment and others, remembering to have some lightness along the way can be the making or breaking of us.

We all need to do more of what we love and if we don't know what that is, then we need to care about ourselves enough to find out. No excuses.
Even those who are struggling in the darkness of their minds can find some small thing to start with which can be built on. If you are down that black hole, I would recommend chatting this though with someone, either a good friend or a professional.

A lot of the time we are put off trying anything joyful or even new again because we may have trod a path (willingly or even unwillingly), thinking that it's going to one thing, only to discover huge disappointment. Dealing with that incongruence can be extremely difficult.

All or nothing need not be the answer. Another perspective could be that, at the very least let's look at what we have learned in knowing what we DON'T want!
This can be a strong place to start from when we are trying to work things out to move forward. We humans are very simple on one level, yet so complex on another. I think we need to respect both sides and recognise we are pretty darn incredible as we are a lot of things, all at the same time.

Some parts of ourselves we know, and other parts haven't emerged yet and we discover along the way depending on what happens in our lives.

Our needs may be so few despite often feeling like they are insurmountable! But one thing's for sure and that's a good laugh, some fun and play will always bring us back.
Emmerson's cartoon in the Chronicle on Thursday, March 15 summed it up so very simply.
"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special." — Stephen Hawking.

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