Joy

The Holidays in Hand Prompt for today asked "What does the word "joy" mean to you? Does it play a part at the holidays?

I thought this question was pretty tough. I think if I was to define Joy to me I would say that it is a pretty intense form of happiness a step down from euphoria. And if this is the case then no I don't think it joy does play a part in our holidays- I don't even think the kids would describe our Christmases as necessarily involving 'joy'. And it's not a term I would have used to describe my childhood Christmases. That's not to say they weren't happy, in the most part they were- but not 'joyful'.

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I guess that with the complicated nature of many Christmas Celebrations, the pressure and expense and in the case of the kids massive expectations surrounding gifts- joy is a big ask.

But then I think that maybe my focus is a bit off. Two things in my life now that are highly likely to give me joy are; Will and Creating. Will just exudes joy from his pores he's funny and enthusiatic and passionate and cute. And creating provides an outlet for expression, an opportunity to relax, a sense of achievement and it's bloody fun, especially when shared with good friends.

I think some of the best Christmases we ever had were in Nowra. Having done our own thing in the morning the CO Muzz and his wife Sandy and their two girls Jessica and Laura extended an open invitation to anyone on the squadron who wanted to attend, BYO beers, BBQ and leftovers. There was no expectation to be there. There was no family, no politics and no pressure or competition- there were no presents either. There were heaps of friends and heaps of kids for which we parents had joint responsibility. Their house and yard were not flash or pretentious but big and spacious and we had room to spread out. It was really good and I'd say the closest I have ever had to a joyful Christmas.

I'm going to spend some time thinking about putting some joy in our Christmas this year and in the future- I guess by adding some of the ingredients I talked about above and mitigating for some of the joy-killers. I'll also be thinking about whether Joy is really important if you have; love, togetherness, sharing, relaxing, fun and all those other Christmas trimmings? Or if maybe it's just a state of mind, like adjusting to the idea of going to the beach on Christmas day. If I remember I'll let you know how I got on.

And if you have any ideas for adding joy let me know.

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Oh and I'm wondering if anyone has any movie suggestions; I'm looking for a family movie- something classic like Princess Bride or Sound of Music or Milo and Otis- it doesn't have to be Christmas Themed but it's fine if it is. I was thinking of "It's a Wonderful Life" but I don't think Merenia is up for that yet or Fantasia but I'm not sure that will be Kieran's thing..... ideas welcome. Maybe 'E.T', 'Big' or 'The Wizard of Oz'?

♥