How do you experience joy?

I ask all of my clients this question. It can take some digging to figure it out. And it can shift and change over the years. Once a client discovers the answer, the next step is figuring out how to get them experiencing it on a regular basis. We need joy to fuel us, not just once in a blue moon, but consistently. Ideally, there are some experiences of joy we can rely on in our life. Experiences we can look forward to with anticipation, and look back at with satisfaction. So when hard times come, which they will, these joy-filled experiences will help sustain us through the difficulty.

A few years ago, during a particularly tough time in my own life, I realized I had not asked myself this question in a very long time. So I did, and the answer was singing. So I joined Sing!, a non-audition women’s community chorus based in Duluth Minnesota. Our weekly rehearsals and performances were experiences of pure, unfettered joy!

With the New Year beginning tomorrow, I encourage you to ask yourself how you experience joy, then be sure to add those experiences to your list of resolutions for 2020. Sing! performed its last concert in June of this year (listen here if you wish), so it’s time for me to ask myself this question too.