What happens when you’re looking for one book by an author, find another, and then find out it’s not even the same person at all?
Being Joy is by Gloria Stewart — but it’s NOT the Gloria Stuart of Titanic fame (as Old Rose) that I wrote about back in November – the link on Ms. Stuart’s name goes to my post.
See, I was writing about Stuart’s book and went to Amazon to link it when Stewart’s book came up.
I know, a little confusing. Stick with me!
The colors jumped out at me and I love the mandala-thingies on the cover… and most of all, I love the topic of joy! So, I put this book on my wish list.
it is a daybook… a 40-day program… that promises to help you “heal your life and change the world”
No small order!
The font is larger than normal (which I TOTALLY appreciate!) and while there is a lot of room for writing and “My Daily Frequency Shifter” – which is a temperature gauge of your joy – don’t be fooled! There is plenty of substance here, too!
Given what we’ve been talking about lately, I found myself especially interested in the chapter about Honour (pg 191/ Day 31). A little digression: Stewart is Canadian and so “Honour” is spelled with a U.
I love, love, love this quote:
The greatest way to live with honour in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” – Socrates
Let that sink in.
When I did, I realized that I’ve been going about this authenticity thing back-asswards.
How does it make you feel?
This idea is my newest obsession!
“Honour” is my fave chapter of the book. In it, Stewart says: “If you accept the premise that everything is connected, then it stands to reason that when we honour our environment, our birds and animals, and all peoples, then we ultimately honor ourselves.”
I accept the premise. So, this makes PERFECT sense. And if this makes perfect sense, so does the natural progression to joy. Stewart says that we are given little “tests” of our honor daily. When I sit back to think on that, I realize it is SO VERY true. From the mundane to the significant, we are tasked with being honorable humans.
If we are being TRUE to ourselves (and others, when speaking of community – family, friends, the earth) we leave so much room for joy. When we are NOT being TRUE, we close the door on joy.
Addendum to the thought above: Yes, we all know people who seem to be happy in spite of dishonorable activities. I am reminded of a particularly icky newspaper publisher I once knew who was the epitome of … well… ickiness. He cheated on his wife. He cheated the government. He cheated his business. He was, in short, a very dishonorable man. But he seemed to revel in it. He thought he was something special and held his head high. He was also a jerk of the highest order. Was he joyful? He appeared so. But…
But…
As Stewart says in the very beginning of the Introduction (pg. ix) joy is internal. Though she never actually says that happiness is external… it almost feels so, doesn’t it? I mean, just as we sit here and think about it.
Happiness is your favorite foods or drinks, listening to music, a walk in the woods…
But when you SAVOR the food… FEEL the music… TALK to the trees…
That is joy!
This book is wonderful and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it. Sometimes the unexpected brings more than you bargained for. This book is a keeper!
The Self-Help Whisperer® 