Creating Joy 365

December is a time when most people are feeling more generous, empathetic, and compassionate towards humanity. I’ve noticed that this seems to happen slightly just around the end of October, definitely prior to Thanksgiving. But, what if we didn’t wait until this time of year to pour out love into the world? What if the month of December didn’t have to carry the weight that it does for so many people? What would the world around each individual look like? On a larger scale, how could that change the global community?

I started living life where I create joyful moments everyday, not just in my life, or the life of my family members. I work to actively engage in meaningful interactions with humanity. As I write this blog, it’s been about three weeks since my daughter and I helped a blind gentleman across the street to the bus stop. I know it seems exaggerated, but it’s actually true. We were running errands and stopped by a grocery store, and a man who was visually impaired approached us (he must’ve heard us chatting, and carrying on). He then proceeds to ask us for help, and if we could direct him to the bus stop. After I tried to explain where it was exactly, he asked if we could walk him there. We had such a great time being of assistance to him, as he explained how he had been hit 3 times by cars while trying to cross the street. We said a quick prayer as we walked that it would never happen to him again. He told my teen daughter, and I that we were beautiful souls. That meant a lot to us. I won’t reveal his name I’ll just call him Mr. D, because his name started with the letter D. Taking the time to help him blessed us, just as much as it blessed him. Guess what… he didn’t even share the same ethnicity with us. That in itself is a reminder that a person does not have to look like you, to show love, kindness, or compassion. 

Our thankfulness and giving should not be regulated, and reserved for one season of the year. I tell my children often “don’t delay joy”. Why must we wait until a holiday to give gifts? You can give gifts just because. Too often in our society, kind words, charity, and gatherings are reserved for this time of year. Which is probably why quite often we hear the  song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. So many people suffer from anxiety, and depression, and it can be sparked, or heightened around the holidays. These feelings can be induced by comparison. With social media, and the Hollywood “perfect” Christmas movies, don’t help with easing these feelings at all. Moreover, it doesn’t help to sit and scroll watching others post their seemingly perfect holiday pics, in matching family pjs.  

What I’m about to propose is definitely not the norm. Yet, I live this now. Try creating joy 365. The warm fuzzy moments, and acts of kindness, can be cultivated all throughout the year. Homeless people shouldn’t have to wait for, “the most wonderful time”, to eat, or solely rely on missions to receive a warm meal that didn’t come from a fast food garbage can, or Plaid Pantry. What you sow, you will reap, give and it shall be given.…So what if you tried doing some of these things all year long? No, I’m not saying that you do it all, but carve a little time out, to live, and on purpose. It will bring much joy to you as the giver, and the recipients as well. 

What if kind words became a mode of operation, and way of life for you? What if acts of charity become the norm? Imagine several of the three hundred and sixty-five days a year, extending your hand to give alms, parting your lips to give words of love to humanity in general, not just to people that look like you, or that share your same ethnicity and background. Like the song by Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”, this would be. 

Try alleviating yourself of the stress of any particular day, and celebrate just because. Do a little research on some of the true origins and roots of major holidays, and decide if this is something you, and your family need or want to continue doing. What if you started a new tradition for yourself, your family and friends? Imagine gathering for no reason at all creating joyous moments without permission? No, not to post for others to see and envy, but to create a new thing that doesn’t leave you struggling in deeper debt, at the start of the new year; because you had to purchase the latest and greatest thing to let someone that you loved them, because that’s the “trending gift” of the season. Does your child really need an iPhone 15, all the while little Black children in the Congo are handpicking the coltan, and cobalt that goes in them? I’m writing this to say that joy, charity, and kindness should not be tied to a season. Hence the lyrics, “Tis the season to be jolly”. No, we may not be joyful all the time, but perhaps we don’t have to delay joy until one season of the year. Perhaps we don’t wait to show someone we love them, to give to someone in need, or to volunteer our time in a soup kitchen. Moreover, do you really need a season to be jolly, or could you take the power in your own hands and celebrate anytime, the gift of life, every day of the year? 


Creating Joy 365,

April Etuk
Lovely Coils
Founder & Owner