Additional information
by Johan Spaans (Author)
If you want to experience a zest for life (Joy) in these hectic times, you will have to go on a journey of discovery, a journey which will take you from looking in to looking after. The first thing you will notice is that you don't get far on this journey if you are travelling alone. The current culture of 'me, me, me' and the emphasis on individual performance really get in the way of Joy. There are too many people who have lost their Joy and are experiencing depression or burn-out.
Mindfulness and meditation can indeed help you to take the first and necessary step towards recovery, the step that takes you out of your mind, full of restless thoughts and worry about problems and their solutions. This is a very important, but difficult assignment for many people. However, in my experience this is not enough to help you get the true feeling of happiness.
You could describe Joyfulness as a logical consequence of Mindfulness. Joyfulness lets you experience the flow from a state of 'Being'. The characteristics are movement, pleasure and creativeness, so you don't have to just sit still or concentrate. With Joyfulness, you break through the individualism which plays such a major role in the current selfie culture. With Joyfulness, you experience the most pleasure by being and creating together. Joyfulness takes you to that playful feeling you had as a child. If you can be your true self, and reveal that to others, you can then connect with them. You let them share in your Joy and that is so contagious that it can lead to amazing partnerships.
Discover your own Joy and radiate it Not by looking for it. Not by trying to be someone. You don't perform from Joyfulness. Joy has always been inside you, but you lost it somewhere along the way in life. So you can recapture that feeling of Joy by choosing play and self-expression. And by simply being there for others, selflessly.
The people around you need your Joy. The world needs your Joy
