Happiness and Joy

The thing about joy is it resides within, and it remains intact, regardless of situational factors. Happiness is more contingent upon outside dynamics… How is work going, did you get enough sleep, did your sister confront you about something, has your house become a money pit?

I feel the well of joy swell, and it holds the power to overtake unhappiness. Several “life situations” have had a strong, negative effect on my happiness lately, and it’s strange to ebb and flow from sourcing the inside feeling of joy to being swayed by the outside. Certainly, I enjoy living a life of internalized focus, not being overly concerned with how the outside world swirls around me. The precariousness of outward focussed living is dangerous, and not recommended for an empath, such as myself. Although the pleasures are plenty, the eventual weight of carrying an overloaded sack of Earthly sensations is too heavy… I can’t smoothly move through the required duties of life with a family if I exist too much “outside,” so, I keep my seat warm at the table of the internal. Joy is served in abundance there… “Art and the End of Suffering” asks that I address how to better show up on Earth with the Joy to transform the external manifestations.