I See Joy Dancing

by Kim

. . . in my coffee cup.

I kind of wish that I had taken this photo with a festive Christmas mug. But, it was Thanksgiving week and I had yet to bring down my holiday mugs off the top shelf. And to be honest, I wasn't thinking about this photo for a blog post. I was simply reacting to a moment. A simple moment of joy watching steam dance from my cup. And yes, I  am that easily entertained! After all, I've seen circus acts and ballet performances in that steam.

Today, I thought I would share a few of my recent moments of joy.

One day a couple of weeks ago I was able to get back to a favorite trail after it was closed all summer. There is still quite a bit of construction and part of it is still closed off, but as the season has changed since I was last there, I was finding joy in the fallen leaves and the smell of pine needles on a humid morning.

It's no secret that I have a love affair with all things nature. This was an incredibly joyful moment for me as I raised this Tersa Sphinx Moth from a caterpillar and after waiting for weeks and weeks it finally emerged from it's cocoon. After it's wings had plenty of time to dry I took it outside, and after several minutes of warming it's flight muscles it successfully took off into the wild blue yonder. These moths are very strong and fast flyers, with 50 wings beats per second. They can sometimes be mistaken for hummingbirds as they can hover while drinking nectar like that of a hummer. This particular one is nocturnal and right about dusk comes out to feed on my purple trailing lantana. Their host plant is pentas and boy do they have a hearty appetite.

And there is still all kinds of joy blooming in my garden in the form of roses . . .even with the couple of frosts we have had.

Joy is one of those things we think escapes us when we don't have it. Because often we think it's something we can seek. That if we look behind the right door it will just be there waiting. But something I have learned is that we hold our happiness hostage when we use the words if, only, or when. And for me I don't want to miss the happiness that happens along the journey because it's surely not guaranteed to be waiting at a destination.

I've learned the hard way that happiness is accepting where I am and when I observe what is in front of me, I can see joy dancing.

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, won or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love,
grace and gratitude."  - Denis Waitley

What about you, what have you learned about finding joy? We love when you share your thoughts here in the comments or on our Facebook page. And don't forget to share your photos of what brings you joy in our flickr group.