Honors Blog #3

Joy is not in things, it is in us

Honors Blog #3

I remember going to the toy store when I was a child and gazing at all the different types of pretty dolls and cute stuffed animals that I wanted in my toy bin back at home. But then I would glance over to the action figures and shiny toy trains on the other side of the store and scuff. Why would I want to even look at something that doesn’t make me happy?

As a child, I was right. Nobody will look twice at something that doesn’t impress them or give them any sort of happiness. People give more of their attention at the things that bring us joy in life, like movies, food, and people. But, don’t think that a slice of pizza is bursting with joy; however, it’s bursting with the joy that you give it.

Let’s look at one of Disney’s most famous movies, Cinderella. Watching it at five years old, it gives little girl’s hopes and dreams of becoming a princess and finding their true love. They find joy in the singing and dancing from the godmother and Cinderella, and tend to sing themselves. As we get older, we tend to lose that sense of joy that came to us when we were younger. This just proves that we give items its joy, not the items giving us joy.

Joy doesn’t have to be in items though. On her blog, Macafem discusses the aphorism and suggests, “It’s important we realize that real happiness is not in material things”. Joy can be waking up next to your spouse every morning to getting that cup of coffee before school starts. The little things in our lives that make us happy, that is what joy is.

 

https://www.macafem.com/blog/joy-is-not-in-things-but-in-us/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/donna-labermeier/do-we-really-know-what-jo_b_5295110.html