Experimenting with joy

How are you doing right now? I'm sincerely asking.

Right now, what thoughts are tumbling about in your mind, which emotions do they kindle, where in your body do you feel most alive? Be specific. Look around you or close your eyes to look within you. Check-in with yourself. We don’t do that enough, do we?

Hello again. As a coaching mentor of mine from India likes to say, ‘it’s been a hot minute’ (ironically meaning way more than a minute) since the last issue of The Wild Now.

Why the hiatus? Personal life, caregiving, writing, and my own mentoring & coaching work. Fullness on so many positive levels, mixed with confounding, challenging, and dispiriting points along the way.

Is it just me, or has your world shifted in some seemingly seismic way in this no-longer-new year?

Sometimes you need to step back in order to see how to step forward.

So, I’ve been quietly making space for believing in beauty and curiosity, kind-hearted people and pendulums that will swing back into balance, delightful surprises and enduring joy … not only for myself, but also for you.

Keep reading to learn about an all-new Joy Experiment we’ll do together in April here in The Wild Now, the release of my updated joy-in-grief toolkit, and an an important note on how I’m delivering this e-journal now.

The Joy Experiment

Being curious, and resonating deeply with the recently released book, Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, by Anne-Laure LeCunff, I’m making a pact with myself to complete my own tiny experiment in April, and part of it includes you.

Each day in April, I’ll be capturing at least one small joy moment in my personal journal—something meaningful, quiet and easily overlooked, or unexpectedly luminous.

Twice a week, I’ll share a few of those moments with you, along with a gentle question to help you open yourself to joy hiding within your own days.

It’s not me saying, “Hey, look at me, see how joyful I am in the midst of my husband’s life winding to an end and a world that appears at war with itself.” No. I don’t have it all figured out. No one does.

I do know that joy is not a destination, but rather a pathway through whatever we’re dealing with.

What I want to share with you is how joy can show up, especially when you slow down to notice it. I want to inspire you to see how true, inner joy really is possible for almost all of us, even when life feels dark or hard or overwhelming or mean.

I’m encouraging you to grab a little notebook or whatever clever electronic device you use, and like an explorer or scientist, suspend any doubts about joy and block the specter self-limiting beliefs.

I’m inviting you to pause again and again as each day unfolds so you pay attention to more of the moments that literally comprise your life.

Oh, oh, oh, how quickly they can slip by like leaves on a stream, when in fact they are opportunities to step into the stream and feel the fullness of the flow. There’s so much more to your life and to mine happening below the swift and fleeting surface.

I’m also nudging you to capture in words, a scrawled note or sketch, or a quick photo some of the places in your day where you feel joy.

By capturing your joy moments, you can savor all the emotions, thoughts, physical feelings, and spiritual qualities (whatever that means to you) that inhabit those tiny yet transcendent bits of time.

Best of all, the act of capturing your joy moments, from a neuroscientific perspective, trains the brain and teaches the mind to look for more of those moments. More joy? Yes, please.

And if you don’t think you can believe in your capacity for joy right now, let’s not get hung-up there.

Pick another target. Some of my client’s dealing with grief often need to reach another emotional milestone before they can believe in their own joy. Examples have included:

There’s no pressure. No prescriptions. No peril of failure.

It’s about growth, not a nebulous, lofty goal.

We’re talking about a simple, shared practice of noticing just one moment each day. Noticing, and ideally capturing, daily meaningful moments. It’s leaning into those moments with curiosity and unlocking their power to shift you, ever-so-slightly, toward greater well-being.

Bonus: If you want to share your experiences in noticing moments and perhaps inspire others—you’ll be able to do that by commenting on the twice-a-week Wild Now emails I’ll be sending throughout April.

Are you willing to try The Joy Experiment?

A New Platform & Sending Address for The Wild Now

You may notice this email looks a little different. That’s because I’ve moved The Wild Now from the Substack platform (which is morphing into a social media app).

A significant project, I’ve made the transition to a more focused platform, Ghost, that better aligns with how I want to share with you: via a welcoming and non-distracting space, super secure data handling, and greater capacity for professional writing and publishing. You can visit the new site at: WildNow.Life (it’s a companion to my main website, PoetOwl.com).

To make sure you keep receiving The Wild Now in your email Inbox, and ensure it doesnt’ end up in a spam, junk, or promotions folder:

Alternatively, just reply to this email with any comment or a quick, Hello, Kimberley! or Thanks!, and that should tell your email service provider that The Wild Now is welcome in your inbox ;-)

For those who asked and everyone else, too . . .

If you’re on the Waitlist (or even if you aren’t ;-) for my Inviting Joy Into Grief Toolkit, it’s now available. To get all the details and access to the Toolkit (via a pay-what-you-choose approach to keep the Toolkit affordable for all), click the button below.

The Toolkit offers an evidence-based, self-support process and range of resources for rebuilding life in the midst of loss.

It also includes something you don’t find in other affordable programs: private, chat-based support so you can ask me questions that may arise as you work your way through the Toolkit. So click the button above, or go here: (https://www.poetowl.com/inviting-joy-into-grief-toolkit).

Thank you for being a part of my world, and I hope you find insights and inspiration in what I share with you. I’m always just an email reply away and appreciate hearing from you.

Together, let’s find more inner joy in April, okay?

Kimberley

P.S. To prepare for The Joy Experiment beginning April 1st, pick up a fresh new note book or download a journal app so you’ll be ready to capture your joy moments (or at least, moments of lightness, delight, or grace). Achieving greater well-being, starts with intention, and a tiny act like setting up a note-taking tool begins to turn intention into reality.