In 1969, Donovan, the Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist, released a beautiful album called Barabajagal. In it he shared one of my all time favorite songs which he had written and composed. If ever I want to smile and have myself some fun, I remember his little tune and start singing its lovely chorus. It's a wonderful tool to keep in one's back pocket to share at parties or with children and it is a sure fire cure for the blues. If you don't know the tune, listen to this little excerpt. It is such a joy and will make you want to get up and dance around. And speaking of rounds, it is delightful to sing this in a round.
Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea
Everybody is a part of everything anyway
You can have everything if you let yourself be
Happiness runs, happiness runs
Happiness runs, happiness runs
Happiness runs, happiness runs
Happiness runs, happiness runs
Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea
Everybody is a part of everything anyway
You can have everything if you let yourself be.
Sometimes I substitute the last line with "You can be so happy if you let yourself be." And both are true. We all tend to ride ourselves so hard. And most often, if we just let ourselves be who we really are, not only do we enjoy ourselves much more, but we also find that we are quite naturally tending to our own unique part in the grander scheme of things. So with thanks to Donovan and in honor of all of our New Year's resolutions, here's to letting ourselves be happy. Happy New Year to you all.
♡
© Josephine Laing, 2015
All of our relationships are a powerful motivators for growth. When we know and love ourselves, this awareness is reflected in our personal relationships. Please enjoy this short video on how our relationships center us in our lives.
© Josephine Laing, 2015
Peace Pilgrim once said, "Who could know God and not be joyous?" When we overcome the illusion of our separation from the divine we find ourselves in joyous contact with the Ultimate Reality from which we spring. This connection frees us from any misunderstanding we might have about ourselves and the nature of life. It allows us to experience joy.
I first discovered a sense of the divine during my early teenage
years when I was with my horse Duchess. I reveled in the beauty of the
natural world, admiring the energy of the trees, the soil, and the air
surrounding us. We can experience this feeling of reverence whenever we
are in contact with nature.
For me
the divine is free from association with religion. It is the
ultimate source of the universe and of consciousness. I like to think
of the ultimate mystery as God and that God is the mystery of pure
love. It is the totality of everything. The illusion of our
separation from the divine is the cause of all of our suffering. This is what
robs us of our joy.
Though happiness and joy may seem pretty similar, they are actually quite distinct. Happiness is an externally based form of pleasure. We become happy when someone gives us a present or a compliment, or when we find ourselves in a lovely environment. We take a ride at an amusement park and we laugh.
On the other hand, joy percolates up from deep within ourselves. Joy is linked to our sense of "All is Well." No matter what, we know the rightness of everything. We feel this way when we are doing what we truly want to do, when we follow our inspirations, when we open our hearts in love.
Everything is a part of the totality and when we know that we are learning and growing, a sense of well-being pervades our every experience. Years ago a friend of mine shared with me a saying that really knocked my socks off when I first heard it. "Gratitude is my only reaction." I see now how very profound this idea is.
One beautiful way to reconnect with our joy is to take a moment to stop and think, how many times have you brought to your awareness that great mystery, that deep love, that ultimate source of creation? Have you seen it in the eyes of another? Have you felt it in the breeze in your hair? Did you feel it in the sun from the window as it warmed your hand?
I invite you this week to see how many times a day we can reach for that joy. Find that connection with something larger than ourselves and just surrender ourselves to it. Allowing it to cause that deep joy of connectedness, percolating up from the very roots of our being.
© Josephine Laing, 2014
