Receiving Joy

Guest post by Julia Gustavsson of DeThink

Note from Caitlin of Dose of Wonder:

This week’s guest post is from Julia Gustavsson of DeThink, where you can embark on a natural journey away from the stress of modern life along with loving philosophical insights 🌿

So without further ado…

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Lovely you,

“What am I going to cook later? If I make it home before noon, maybe I can…” suddenly a deer with big horns popped up in the middle of the trail. You won't believe what appeared behind it: the tiniest baby deer I've ever seen. It was adorable. Seeing another creature living its life made me smile. In my experience, those are the scenarios that "make my day". This could be when I see a determined dandelion growing in a crack in the street, when I notice that the leaves of a tree have turned neon red overnight or when I hug someone I haven’t seen for a while.

I used to believe that I'd feel the best when I thought the highest of myself, but I usually feel the best when I don’t think of myself at all. It’s when I connect to the wonder of observing life and forget about myself that I experience the most love and connection to the world around me. That’s when I feel the best. When I'm fully engaged in the moment and forget about time, worries and even myself.

I think it's easy to get lost in the “seriousness” of life. Being serious isn’t bad, but it has never made me feel joyful or alive. I've found that life has a funny way of showing me those parts of itself when I least expect them. A very serious conversation took a complete 180 turn one time when I said "graviditet" instead of "gravitation" ("graviditet" means pregnancy in Swedish).

The joy of life keeps knocking on my door regardless of whether I'm seeking it or not. I believe there’s a minimum amount of joy, love and connection humans are allowed to be exposed to. There’s so much beauty in the world that it's literally impossible to not encounter it even if it’s only for a brief moment. I personally don’t consciously recognize its value on my worst days. But it’s always there in some corner and it usually makes me smile.

Let me give you one more example (and confession) from my own life: The other day I remembered what I was going to do in the kitchen and I felt on top of the world. I had accomplished something I've never done before (I’m not exaggerating as much as you think, or as much as I wish). In the meantime my cat, Breena, did a trick in front of me to show off her fluffy skills she had practiced. It warmed my heart for a moment.

I didn't do anything to achieve that state of mind when I first saw Breena, I just observed life. Both the being part (watching a fluffy cat) and the doing part (walking confidently into a room because I had the memory of a wizard) were valuable to me in two separate ways. Sometimes the being part is even the highlight of my day when the doing part isn’t “doing” its best. Oh please say there's someone who can relate to that?

It’s not that “doing” is bad, it’s that “being” is good.

“Ugh, now I have to do that “being” stuff too, thanks a lot for adding another box to check off on my to-do list, Julia…”

I really want to emphasize that this post is not about doing something. We’re so caught up in the mindset of “doing" that we somehow bring it to the “being” part too. Isn’t that something? Instead, I hope this inspires your subconscious to recognize life's wonders more often. I encourage you to not take any conscious action with this information, it's not intended to be perceived that way. Just allow it to marinate your mind. It may lead you to become more aware of the beauty around you subconsciously, without even trying.

💚 Question: Have you felt alive just being a recipient of life's wonders this week? Please share your stories, I’d love to know!

🌻

Julia

Thanks so much to Julia for being a guest on Dose of Wonder and sharing her story with us here! And don’t forget to check out her Substack below (or here if viewing on the app and you don’t see a link below) which is a place of her reflections to live more slowly, mindfully and naturally.