The Comeback Trail

After more than a decade, I am returning to my Living in Joy project! I invite you to join me.
 
Thank you to all of you who, over the last 10 years, asked me about my book, my blogs, and my speaking engagements. Yes, I had stopped writing and talking about joy for a bit, but why? The short answer is that I suffered a bit of a crisis of conscience. How could I write about remaining in touch with my “joyful self,” when I was not feeling particularly joyful?
 
It’s been interesting for me to reflect on this. In many aspects since 2012, my life has been wonderful. In fact, during this time, I fell in love and got married, met new friends, kept and nurtured deeper relationships with old friends, and moved to paradise (a pretty home in Florida, with a sunset view). I have been happy. But I have also been working in a few very stressful jobs, and I was not feeling particularly successful. Imposter syndrome had taken hold of me at work, seeped into my home, and made each day a struggle. I couldn’t think of this Living in Joy project without feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
 
It occurs to me that this is exactly what I was trying to write about and remind people to NOT do… I was so focused on the struggle and trying to get out of it that I completely lost track of the value of gratitude and the absolute release of that struggle. Just being. And reflecting. And enjoying the ride, even with the twists, turns, and 10-story drops that make me dizzy. And it took one thought, of gratitude, then another, to shake me out of it. I started getting those little, mental-emotional “hits.” Have you ever noticed them? Like angels, they must be everywhere all the time, but it’s my experience that they remain relatively invisible until you’re ready to invite them in.
 
A friend said, “Ugh, I hate everything, right now. How do I just relax?” and I thought:
I feel like I used to know this answer. And my angels agreed.
 
A panelist at a conference said to the entire audience, “You don’t have to know everything to share what you do know,” and I thought: Hm. I can struggle to remain joyful, too, and that’s just honesty. I can share what I do know. And my angels agreed.
 
And my boss, of all people, asked, me, “What would you do, if you could do anything?”
 
Aha! A question I’ve asked myself and others many times, but forgot to ask for the last ten years! Yes! What WOULD I do? What has been nagging at me, and trying to get out? What iterations of me as a professional (author, nurse, teacher, singer, leader…) make me feel like the most inspired version of me: daughter, wife, and friend? And my angels reminded me.
 
A “comeback” is when someone returns to an activity or pursuit that they were known for, previously. I may not have been very well-known for this work ten years ago. But I feel like I knew myself better. Or, rather, I was more in touch and listening more closely to my heart and the things that keep me grounded in joy.
 
So, here I am… on the comeback trail. Ready to share, explore, win and fail. Living, again, in joy, through all the fun and fury that life has to offer.
 
How about you? Over the last few years, have you had an inspiration that you followed? Or one that you ignored because you were “too busy”? Or one that keeps tapping you on the shoulder, but intimidates you? I’d love to hear about it! Let’s nurture our own underlying pulse of joy and inspiration again, together. What would you do, if you could do anything?

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