Opening to Joy

I had a dream recently where a wise guide told me to reconnect to the joy of my 13 year old. When I reflected on this I remembered that he (my 13 year old self) was going through a tough time but he also knew how to enjoy his time. He allowed himself to read books for the sake of it, play games without worrying about the result and go for walks with no specific goal in mind.

How much has our sense of joy become diluted by the need to achieve something or even worse, the sense that there must be pain and suffering in order to reconnect with that joy?

How does joy manifest in your life? Where did it appear in childhood that can be accessed once again?

Psychotherapy can often be about coming back to our inner child, the one who is very much still here and wants to feel and be loved, and is reaching out to you as their kind and protective adult to remind them it is safe enough to feel and live and sing and love and create.

The things you loved doing as a child are often the things that make you happy as an adult. So what are they? Painting, singing, drumming, writing, walking in nature? Our joy is there for the taking. We only need to remember it, trust we are safe enough to feel it and then act upon it.