Joy and Connection

Dancing with the Chinelos at the Dia De Los Muertos Celebration!

Last Saturday, we attended an incredible “dia de los muertos” celebration.  Wow!  It was a beautiful event. People constructed altars with pictures of ancestors they loved, they included family favorite foods, special flowers, etc. Beautiful dancers celebrated the cultures and colors of Mexico.  The food was incredible!  The celebration is meant to celebrate and connect with ancestors, inviting them to the party! The final dance of the evening had everyone on their feet, and I found myself dancing together with perfect strangers! The spirit of joy and connection was so strong . . . and it got me thinking about an eternal truth, that  joy and connection are linked together.  

When do you feel the most joy?  It is often when I’m with family and friends. When we are laughing together, eating together, doing an activity together.  A good connection works best for me when I can find a way to relate to either the show, or the people, or the activity. I thrill when I get to talk with like minded friends, or even better, when I find common ground with friends who have different points of view. I love learning something new or sharing something together. I have the power to experience more joy when I reach out and try to make these connections, rather than stay inside myself, which I admit can be easier . . . but really is never as rewarding. 

When I think about reaching out to connect with others, I realize it can be a little intimidating.  So here is a little self coaching that I hope will help you.  Each of us creates our own joy, it isn’t handed out in a measured way by someone outside of us.  Each of us creates our own connections to others and we do this with how we think about them.  We have all the power to create more joy for ourselves and I hope as this holiday season starts, we can all do just that.  Whether it is remembering a special ancestor from our past, or creating new memories with friends and family now.  Joy and connection are available to all of us. It doesn’t take much…. it is easy. Just wag more, bark less.

Happy Holidays!