Sensei Monshin Nannette Overley explores the provoking Lojong slogan “Always maintain a joyful mind.” She examines perspectives on joy that go beyond our cultural view of “happy happy joy joy.” She considers how joy can manifest as and be born from challenging the desire to make everything a big deal, taking a wider view, noticing when we’re heading down a Negative Downward Spiral (NDS), basking in the beauty of being alive and human, and wholeheartedly doing whatever we’re doing. This joy feels light, bouncy, buoyant, empowering; it feels like an opening, a remembering that “this, too, is true.”

Monshin speaks to the feeling of wrongness or betrayal that can arise when we talk about cultivating joy amidst suffering. She elaborates on the zen perspective of joy that is wholeheartedly attending to the present moment by reminding us that it does not serve for us to suffer, too, and that we can cultivate joy by asking: How can I extend my hand while staying grounded?