The JoyFinder Tool: A New Year's Gift
Parts Work #6: How to Feed the Four Elements of Your Life
Got big goals for this year? Does your Inner Critic Monkey whisper mean stories of past failures to live up to your New Years’ intention? Me, too. What if we shifted from productivity to joy? What lights you up? Let’s reinvent the notion of managing time, from discipline to devotion. Try this Joy Finder tool (#6 in the Parts Work Series.)
Welcome, Brave Makers. This is part 5 of a series on befriending the multiple aspects of yourself so you can share your full voice. This exercise invites Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit to guide our choices. If you’re new here, warm thanks for your time - it’s the greatest gift!
🎤 Tell us in the comments: What brings you creative joy? Do you allow space and time for these, along with other commitments? What works best for you?
You can find Joy anywhere…
Joy of light: damn! the sun came up again today
Thankful joy: there’s enough food to make it through the day
Surprising joy: the spritz of cold rain on your face
Sensual joy: easy-to-feel pleasures of taste, scent, touch
Deep river of joy: for no good reason, mysteriously happy to be alive
Tearful joy: the taste of your own tears running into the corners of your mouth
…and you can orient your days around Joy.
I made the JoyFinder tool for myself and my clients to navigate the perils of perimenopause with more joy. This creative exercise is about dreaming into what resonates and lights you up most. To connect your goals to your heart, choose holistic actions that feed your whole being, and support your brave voice in the world.
A Medicine Wheel, with Joy
I live on native land of the Suquamish Nation. Many Indigenous teachers have shared teachings and practices with me. These blessings shift my focus from Western values of success and material gain to a worldview based on honoring.
Every Indigenous culture is unique, yet they share universal Earth-based wisdom traditions. Long ago, human life was oriented around rituals and beliefs rooted in observation of the Earth and her beings. Most ancient traditions include the four directions, and four elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, that symbolize the cycles of life. The Medicine Wheel1 is a Native American symbol of healing, with many interpretations, variations and forms. The wheel represents four key aspects of human potential: Physical, Mental/Psychological, Emotional, and Spiritual. The JoyFinder borrows this intention: to honor and balance these forces, within and without.
As you connect your dreams to body, mind, heart, and spirit, your creative energy resonates with more potency than a hyper-focused mindset.
Decolonize Time Management
Time has never been my best friend. Does Time even exist? All we have is this moment, and the next (until they run out). Clocks and calendars are human-made constructions to get us in the same room (or Zoom) with other humans, to work together. Still, creative process depends on the magic of flow, that precious sense of timelessness. Any system that provides a loose structure, doesn’t feel oppressive or arouses the wrath of your Punitive Monkeys 🙈 (“you just wasted a whole hour!)” works.
The JoyFinder is round, like the Earth. Things DO happen inside a chunk of devotional time/energy. I’m blessed with a passive income, and I get my butt in the creative chair/couch early (co-writer’s Zoom, 6-10 am, M-F). My order of tasks feels more circular than linear (like a swirling dervish or a flushing toilet 🤪). Psychologist-physicist-shaman Arnold Mindell says, “Let the broom sweep the floor itself.” Find your Flow.
1. How to use the JoyFinder
Download this PDF to print and write what brings you joy in the four aspects.
Take a few cozy, quiet minutes. Dream into the joys you love most. What gave you joy at age 10? 20? What do you secretly long for? Imagine how your vision for 2024 will play out across the four arenas, with joy as your motivation.
On the four areas of the wheel, note as many Joy elements as you wish:
My body is really looking forward to....
My mind longs to learn more about...
My heart wants to feel and connect with...
My soul, spirit or instincts awaken when I...
Notice…
Are you sad or mad that you can’t experience the joy now? Imagine small ways to keep that joy alive. Maybe you can’t move to Hawaii (yet), but you can feel the sun on your face or wear a bright flower. Add those to your JoyFinder.
Do you resist the things you gotta do? Get creative and connect them with joy. Reinforce why you do it. For example, work makes $$ that feeds you and shelters those you love. So you could add daily work to the Heart section. Mundane chores move your body, too. Really feel your devotion to things that matter. Adding the Love ingredient makes your day go better, with less Monkey Mind Stress.
Look for activities that fill up more than one aspect of joy. For example, daily beach walks with my partner brings joy in all four areas: physical exercise for the body, conversation works our minds, our heart connect in relationship, and our spirits come alive in Nature.
Download the JoyFinder Weekly to spread the joy. A few ideas…
Body: what feels good and serves health, strength, flexibility? food choices; yoga, walking, running, gym, weights, team sports, dancing; cooking; sex; making things; growing veggies, flowers, plants; chores, cleaning, laundry…
Mind: what are you jazzed to learn? What tickles your gray matter? reading, journaling, crunching numbers, writing letters, poems, studying a new trade or career, keeping up with your field, news, telling stories, games, challenges, word play…
Heart: what grows a sense of connection and capacity for love? daily acts of kindness; accepting yourself as you are; expressing love, with honesty; developing friendships, including those who support your creative projects; working on conflict; grieving, healing the past; noticing others’ needs, reaching out with help & support…
Soul (or spirit): what gives you a sense of meaning and purpose? gratitude; deep listening; meditation; time in nature; spiritual practice; following instincts, guidance, or god; prayer; courage to walk your unique path...
Let the JoyFinder infuse your days with intention.
Thinking of a special friend? Drop them in your planner with a little heart. 💗 Any movement counts (“Just Move,” as our friend KaisaFit proclaims.) 🙌🏼🦵🏽 Gamify Joy: Give yourself points for each item on your Joyfinder that you do. Celebrate!
Your voice—its particular tone, strength, nuance, power, sensitivity, depth and authority—arises from your full human-ness. Thank you for feeding the four aspects of body, mind, heart, and spirit. So you CAN share your true voice with more confidence (and make positive change in a world that needs us). Plus, Joy!
More to come,
So happy to see other authors promoting the practice of creating joy!
Thanks for sharing this and for promoting and giving practical tips on infusing joy into our lives.