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 TransformationOctober 8 to November 16, 2023 Listen, the only way to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it into the body first, like small wild plums. —Mary Oliver, from “The Plum Trees” This great artist of words offers us some enchanting suggestions for undertaking the deep work of this […]
The Month of Joyful RemembranceAugust 29 – October 7, 2023Today is a Gift Today is a gift perhaps the whole reason for this incarnation the day to embody and deliver random acts of kindness with no strings attached. It is a day to be present to the seen world and to the unseen source, to […]
The Month for Joyful Dedication“Keep your eye on the prize, Hold On! July 20 – August 28, 2023 The greatest gift we give each other is that we become a mirror of goodness. When we see the goodness in others, we call it forward. –Tara Brach Meet Anne Bruetsch, A Pilgrim of Love, and Exemplar […]
Joy in the WorldThe Month for Enriching a Sense of Joyful PresenceJune 10 – July 19, 2023 Why I Am HappyBy William Stafford Now has come, an easy time. I let itroll. There is a lake somewhereso blue and far nobody owns it.A wind comes by and a willow listensgracefully. I hear all this, every […]
The Month for Joyful Acceptance and AcknowledgementMay 1 to June 9, 2023 Life will bring you pain all by itself.Your responsibility is to create joy.–Milton Erickson This is the month for practicing joy by creating it. Picture this scene from a favorite creation story. It gives us clues about the process. I imagine it like […]
The Month for Joyful AwarenessMarch 22 – April 30, 2023 Jumping for Joy Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky I join my hands in thanks for the many wonders of life,for having twenty-four brand new hours. The sun is rising on the forest and so is my awareness. –Thich Nhat Hanh
JOYFUL BELIEFS 2023The Month for Believing in Joy, February 10 to March 21, 2023 I cannot believe that the inscrutable universeturns on an axis of suffering;surely the strange beauty of the world mustsomewhere rest on pure joy. –Louise Bogan These forty precious days tease us into springtime. In addition to the daily weather fantasias, our […]
A Month for Sourcing Ourselves in JoyJanuary 1 to February 9, 2023 Welcome to this new year and the joyful month of seeking, finding, and celebrating the thousand and one sources of joy. Here is a playful possibility Imagine this scene: Animals, birds, angels, and other creatures gather together with the idea of singing praise—each […]
A TIME FOR GREAT JOY Birthdays of the Gods and Goddesses of JoyDecember 27 to 31 Don’t HesitateIf you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give into it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never […]
The Month for Serving and Sharing JoyfullyNovember 17 – December 26, 2022 To serve is beautiful, but only if it’s done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.–Pearl S. Buck Photo by Christiane Meunier This month’s message is comprised of wonderful quotes from wise people. With every act of giving we […]