My dog brings me so much joy! The way she is so happy to see me. The way she spends every evening on my lap. The way she snuggles next to me when we go to sleep. Whenever I am feeling low, I just cuddle with her and I feel better!
What brings you reliable joy?
Amidst the harshness of our world, it is an important spiritual practice to claim (or reclaim) joy. To wrap it around us like a blanket against the coldness of our world. Joy keeps the ember of our soul burning when forces outside of us would conspire to snuff it out.
Find something today that makes you rejoice. Find something that makes you feel warm and alive.
In the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Tiger starts on February 1. In the New Year’s customs of China, it is considered an invitation to bad luck to begin the year by arguing or fighting with others.
What is one argument you can put aside (even if just for the day) today?
“The moment of prayer is an invitation to be calm in the midst of the tumult of the world and our over-busy lives, to bring together thought and feeling, mind and spirit, and to find some center — some still point — of perspective and peace.” -Earl K. Holt
Find a moment to pray today–invite calm into your being.
“Around us, light is returning.
It rekindles the spirit of life in the skeletons of trees.
It brings forth new shoots from the soil.
It wakes us from our winter slumber, and invites us to see what lies beyond.”
-Kate McPhee
Notice the light around you today–whether it is returning or, in the Southern Hemisphere, gradually growing shorter.
