What if the Pursuit of Joy is Enough?

You ever have one of those weeks where all your conversations circle around to the same topic? This week, mine keep coming back to the importance of low-stakes, inconsequential-feeling hobbies/projects/activities. That “doing nothing” can also mean “doing something for no reason besides IT MAKE ME FEEL HAP!”

That we can do things without making them into work. We can do things independently of goals. What if we all spent so much more time doing things that “don’t matter?” What if you don’t have to worry about getting better at that instrument, or that art form, or that (insert that thing you started doing for fun & unconsciously turned into Another Thing on your List).

What if you found out that keeping things in pure-pursuit-of-joy, leads to more creativity, more energy, and more ease in all areas of life (and psst, you will improve, you’ll just improve without the “try”)?

The pandemic unfolded while I was traveling abroad. When I got home, riddled with uncertainty, I quarantined in an AirBnB for over two weeks. I didn’t relaunch my business until another week after that.

I felt myself creating pressure – you’ve not made a marshmallow in too long, you’ve not brought in revenue in too long, you need to start yesterday. But, there was another voice: hey, you’re still tired, you’re still mourning, you need more time with nothing, you need more time without consequence, and if you honor all of that, I promise you will come back in a way that feels light, powerful, and beyond obligation. I listened to the latter voice. I kept napping, I kept making meals that felt like adventures. I kept crying. I kept drawing. I kept playing ukulele. I kept daydreaming.

And I kept feeling the energy shift on its own. From introspective, reserved, and quiet, to buzzy, electric, and outward. That’s when I relaunched.

Honor where you’re at. Let yourself Be. And remember that Just Being doesn’t always have to look like Sitting Completely Still. Pursuing joy for the sake of pursuing joy is a radical, rebellious & RESTFUL act, that’ll fuckin’ SERVE you in your forward momentum, if you allow it.