Month by Month Reflections for the Year of Joy.
Nine Goddesses to Nurture Nine Steps on the Path of Joy
This Year of Joy calendar gathers nine steps along the Path of Joy into nine months, composed of four ten-day weeks. The weeks invite you to explore joy through each of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air, which can be experienced as metaphors – the fires of passion, for example, or the tears of sorrow – as well as richly concrete in themselves. The nine months, 360 days, come to an end on December 26, leaving five intercalary days before the Year for Joy begins again on January 1.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES OR TITLES below to read the full month’s reflection.
The Month for Joyful RemembranceAugust 29 to October 6, 2026 I’m writing this on August 24th, the 100th day since Jean Houston’s death. Traditionally, this marks a formal closing of mourning and grief. Were we Chinese, we would, be honoring her now as an Ancestor, creating a tablet to welcome her as a member of […]
The Month for Dedication to the Joy Path July 20 to August 28, 2026 Sometimes the word Dedication carries an edge of solemnity. For those who practice the Path of Joy, I’m asking for a shift. Let us practice filling the sense of Dedication with ebullient energetic aliveness. Even fun! What a treat to have […]
Photo by Denise McCarthy The Month for Joyful PresenceJune 10 to July 19, 2026 “After Meditation”By Anna HinesFrom Mountain Meditations Again I open my eyesto exclaim, “Oh my God!Brilliant white cloudscrown my Mountainas wispy angels liftfrom the swiftly moving bank belowdrifting into the blue aboveOu my God!Oh my God!Oh my God!In the beauty of the […]
The Month for Growing JoyJoyful Acceptance and Joyful AcknowledgementMay 1 to June 9, 2026 This month we employ a four-stepped dance, a kind of contra-dance of Joy. Based on our previous month’s practice of becoming ever more aware of joy in all the elements, we begin this dance by opening our senses to the joy […]
The Month for Joyful AwarenessMarch 22 to April 30, 2026 O Ladythe hem of whose garmentis the sky… O Lady fling your bright drops to us, emblemsof your love, throwyour green scarf on the battered earth once more…–Diane di Prima We invite the Lady the poet calls “La Loba” to come singing into our senses these […]
The Month for Joyful BeliefsFebruary 10 to March 21, 2026 Let us consider this month as a time for practicing joy by exploring possible reasons for celebrating its presence in this world, right now, no matter what. And what that can do for us. Look into Olivia’s eyes. I rest my case.How about this? A […]
The Month for Sourcing Ourselves in Joy January 1 to February 9, 2026 Imagine this ancient story: Darkness Deep Abyss Tartarus The darkest pit, sometimes thought to be the ultimate prison. But Suddenly Light! (To quote the beautiful poet, Jan Richardson, “I cannot tell you how the light comes. I only know that it does.”) […]
Joy in the WorldThe Month for Joyful Service and SharingNovember 17 to December 26, 2025 I Bow By Larry Ward, Ph.D. in Morning Night, Poems of Spirit, Race, and Nature I saw compassion appear in the hillsides and valleys of this world. Beloved community Climbing hope’s holy mountain. Sitting under an emerald buddha in a […]
