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Joy is everywhere; it is in the earth’s green covering of grass: in the blue serenity of the sky: in the reckless exuberance of spring: in the severe abstinence of grey winter: in the living flesh that animates our bodily frame: in the perfect poise of the human figure, noble and upright: in living, in the exercise of all our powers: in the acquisition of knowledge… Joy is there everywhere.
—Rabindranath Tagore
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The painting at the top is part of Moments and Color, my solo exhibit currently on display at the West End Gallery. It’s titled An Exuberant Life and is a 24″ by 24″ canvas.
I don’t know that we are living in a time of joy at this point in history. At least, not in a way where one day we as a people will look back and remember it as a golden age filled with good will and There’s certainly an abundance of anxiety, ignorance, anger and about any other negative attribute you can come up with.
I believe that in times like these, we have to actively seek and identify the joy and exuberance that exists in this world. We take so much that surrounds us for granted as we bounce along the bumpy road we’re on at the moment. We find ourselves often blinded by our outrage or so inwardly turned in a defensive pose that we lose track of our surroundings.
Forget to see simple things. A ray of sunlight. The beauty in a tiny paused moment of silence. Tasting the pleasant bitterness of coffee on the tongue.
I could do a long laundry list of my own small pleasures, things that give me a sense of the joys in this world. But they are mine alone. You must find your own. Your list of joys must be your own sanctuary in these times. You’ll know them at once from the feeling of peaceful satisfaction they instill in you.
Maybe finding the exuberance of your own life will influence others to seek their own.
That would be a good thing.
And that’s kind of what I see in this painting– finding one’s joy and affecting the world with it. That is certainly something we could use in these times.
Redtree Times 
I can tell you one of my most recent joys — getting my internet connection back after three days. You wouldn’t think that three days would require a full week to get caught up, but there it is.
I’m not sure that there’s such a thing as a “time of joy,” any more than there’s a “time of woe.” But there’s no question that we can choose to focus on the joys of living in even the worst time, and we all know people who are able to pick out even the tiniest imperfection or irritation in the midst of great joy and celebration. I can’t control everything that’s happening around me, but I can choose my response, just as I can choose which voices to listen to.
That’s a great point, that we have a choice in how we respond to any of the things, good or bad, that occur in our lives. I think an exuberant life takes the middle road, finding joy in dark times and not getting so high that one loses sight of work still to be done during good times.