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The Joy Reservoir and the Meaning of Life


I have been contemplating the idea of 'The Joy Reservoir' for some time now. The idea came one particularly dark day when I found myself curled up in a ball on the floor, mourning the loss of a loved one. It's hard to imagine yourself back in the moment of your life at a time like this. My heart felt as if it had been cleaved from my chest, I was in danger of bleeding out, and the pain was unbearable.

Curled up there on the floor, I allowed myself to feel the full force of my grief and then I began to move—slow, deliberate movement perpetuated by the pull of gravity and the deep sorrow within me. I stretched, arched, lifted, pushed and rolled my body around the floor till I began to feel the sorrow move through me. Despite the pain, I gave myself permission to feel the joy of movement and the inherent pleasure it brings. This pleasure was a source of comfort, nourishment and hope; it didn't make the pain go away, but it made it bearable.

In contemplating the meaning of life from a philosophical standpoint and through my Dramatherapy practice lens, I find myself drawn to the philosophers who encourage the sensual life. Sensual as in experiencing the pleasure of a cool breeze through an open window, the joy of bare feet on the grass, the joy of music as it washes over you, lifting you up through the power of its chords, the pleasure of giving and receiving. These are the kind of things that fill my Joy reservoir, a resource that propels my life and gives me courage and fortitude in times of despair.

When I wonder at my Joy reservoir's substance and where it meets my perception of life's meaning, I see that the combined aspects can be found in several philosophical schools of thought. Through Marxism and the joy of creation; the kind, caring benevolence of Confucianism; Hedonism and life's simple pleasures; Absurdism and the joy of letting go; the contentment that can be suffused through the release of acceptance - Buddha's four noble truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

In an article on Joy in 'The Journal of Positive Psychology', Robert Emmons writes that "By Giving expression to our ecstatic nature, Joy points beyond itself to something deeply true about human nature and purpose. In true Joy, our souls are opened, giving our existence a certain fluidity, a sense of easiness." This encapsulates my understanding of the Joy reservoir as a resource that can be tapped when times are tough, and this resource is fundamental to my lived experience.

As therapists, we meet our clients in their world through the optics of our own lived experience. As a person who considers the importance of resourcing myself, my practice is deeply concerned with resourcing my clients by identifying their strengths, in essence, their power that will help them make the journey through the therapeutic process. Epicurus suggested that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable "pleasure" in the form of a state of tranquillity and freedom from fear ataraxia and absence of bodily pain aponia through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of our desires. By allowing clients space and time to assess, develop and practice their capacity for joy and pleasure, one hopes to promote healing and reduce fear and pain through the joy of living.

I often wonder if the people who cross the threshold of my practice door are meant to be there. That somehow, life's vibration brought them there with a quiet confidence that their sorrow could be held by my continued navigation and understanding of my own. These wonderings are part of the great mystery of living; there is so much we don't know amidst the world's library of knowledge. The 'not knowing' causes people so much grief and strife, and it is the therapists' job to help them find meaning and purpose within the vastness of the unknown. The hope is that by traversing this novel terrain, we may foster in the words of Audre Lorde "an eternal sense of satisfaction to which, once we have experienced it, we know we can aspire. For having experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognizing its power, in honour and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves." Lorde was talking about the power of our erotic nature and its inherent ability to bring us closer to a feeling of fullness. We are sensory beings that can absorb life through our skin, nose, ears, eyes, mouth, each cell inside us a wondrous creation that feeds the synthesizer of our brain.

"Can you feel it Drip, Drip, Dripping

Your Spirits Cup Fill, Fill, Filling

Mind, Body, Soul all Tingling

Rejoice! Rejoice! Our Hearts Just Singing It

The River of Your Vision with Others is Mingling

The Fountain of your Joy, Your Conscience Filling"

Ollie McNamara 1992

Nicola Kealy is a Drama therapist www.nicolakealydramatherapy.ie and a Psychotherapy Doctoral candidate at Dublin City University.


Bibliography

Emmons, R (2020) Joy: An introduction to this special issue, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2019.1685580

Lorde, A (2017) The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House London. Random House





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