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Joy everywhere–

Let joy kill you!

Keep away from the little deaths.”

Carl Sandburg composed and published a poem called “Joy” in 1915. It is a great piece of American literature because it is filled with meanings and admonitions.

His contemporary, Robert Frost, said one time that poetry was useful for the little recognitions in life, and Sandburg’s poem is filled with several of these.

The dictionary defines joy as feelings of great pleasure and happiness stemming from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being. Yet, joy is so much more. Joy comes from the inside. It comes from our hearts and our guts. Because joy comes from there, one of the great tasks we have is to take it and share it with others. Such can be a great reason to have and experience joy.

Sandburg shares his poem with each of us. The words still speak to us in the present. He suggests we can find joy in a variety of avenues: nature, being in love, experience, and avoiding the things which cause us to die inside and steal those pieces of joy we so badly need. Individuals who analyze poetry suggest the poem is about the power of human potential. Maybe. Yet, there are lessons within the poem if we are wise to read and listen.

It is true that joy can come from human potential. Each one of us knows what it feels like to experience success. When a reward is captured after completing the hard work to achieve it, nothing feels more joyous. In this way, experiencing joy can be physical, mental, and spiritual. The Bible calls on each person to rejoice in the Lord because he creates each day. The scriptures also encourage each of us to rejoice in the Lord and with each other.

Joy may be a practice in itself. Sharing our individual joys and being willing to help others experience joy can be something to work toward each day. If there is time for all things, there is a time for expressing daily joy.

Sandburg’s poem admonishes the reader to “Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.” Yes, we must reach out, grab, and hold on to joys each day. Then, we can store them away for those “rainy days” when we are not feeling well or not feeling up to things. We can use past joys and the hope of future ones in our current endeavors.

Because we can feel joy, we can also become joy. Who doesn’t like the feeling of learning a new skill or being able to help others by sending a note or a card of encouragement. The simple act of an open door can create joy for others. Any way we use to pay it forward through the moments of our lives has the potential to bring joy for someone to keep.

The joys we share can get us all through a tough day. The memories from joys past can certainly provide fuel for us in the present. It would not be a bad practice to take a few minutes and personally recount some of life’s joys. Moreover, if an individual brings one joy on a regular basis, return the joy by letting them know how it makes you feel and what a difference it makes to you. Again, joy comes from the inside but is used by us on the outside of our lives.

Sandburg encourages one to embrace joy all the time and in all places. That might be hard because we are not joyous people all the time, but he lets us know joy is always a possibility. He writes, “Let joy kill you.” What could it be like to burst open because of the power of joy? What could it be like to reach a height of immense exultation and gratitude because of someone, or through an accomplishment, or the impact someone has on you?

And finally, we can be joyful because all of us have “taken” some roads and avoided others. We have often made hard choices which come with deep impacts on our lives. When those choices have worked out for good, we can experience the joys of those decisions because we have avoided the little deaths, or traps, in life. Sandburg’s poem begins by suggesting joy should keep us. It finishes by admonishing us to keep away from the little deaths, the feelings, emotions, the hurt, the guilt, the shame, and perhaps the people which bog us down and wipe away joy. Yet, he is also explaining to the reader the fact about our deepest joys reigning over our deepest hurts. Joy wins because it keeps us. There are constant joys within a sunrise, being a friend, and almost any other thing. Yes, it is true we will have deep hurts, but joy can be greater.

Let joy keep you in the new year. Make a list of your joys. Stuff them somewhere you can find them when a bad feeling, bad moment, or disappointment comes. Set a goal to bring joy to someone else any way you can.

And it will be a good year.