Express your Joy

To feel joy one most express joy.

Pass on the joy you feel and it will return to you.

My First Knife

This is the first knife I ever had. It is a victorinox "Tinker". It was given to me by my Grandfather when I was about 12. If I understand it correctly he had found it while walking along the road near his house. Reaching my first knife was in no way a grand event. It was simply that I was going to need one for a scout camp, and this was one he had laying around. But it is an event that marks a turning point in my life. In some ways it was, in my mind at least, the point where a started on the road from child to adult.

Since receiving that first knife so may years ago I have collected many more. A few of them have been this very same "Tinker" model. When I got to an age were I could understood such things that first knife found a safe place on a shelf. It was replaced with another tinker that did not have the same history with and so did not worry about losing or breaking the same. As you can see in the picture below my first knife did see action. The case cracked and I melted it back together. It got damaged while it had the adventure of traveling the workings of an easy chair. It had been missing for a month or so, and one day I gave the handle on the stiff easy chair a good pull, and then heard the knife hit the floor. What I enjoy about knives, is that like journals they travel with you, so their history is also yours.
 

Just a pack of seeds

A week ago I started a new part time job. Like anyone in the same position I was a bit nervous. Shortly after arriving I was told where to go and what I need to do by the man at the front desk. Just as I headed off I was stopped by the man who gave me this pack of sunflower seeds. He told me that we all needed to plant them because they absorbed radiation.I felt much better after that. It was with that simple act that he gave me a most wonderful gift. He was saying that I was welcome in this place, and even if we just met he cared about my well being because I was a fellow human being.

How wonderful would a world be where we all gave each other seeds? How would such a simple act make the world a better place? In my mind I think it would be pretty wonderful.

Joy

The most recent post before this one was about opening to joy. Here is a short list of the things that bring me joy.

-My Girlfriend
  -Writing
    -A good story (what ever form it maybe in)
      -Sharing a good story (In what ever way I can)
        -Getting hits on this blog
          -Working with tools (The feeling I have made something good)
            -Helping people

This is a short list. Far from everything that makes me happy. But in someway a list like this helps me to see that good and simple things exist in my life. Maybe making a list like this could bring you a little joy as well.

Something about sheep just brings a smile to my face. :)

Opening yourself up to joy

Anyone who has any interest in Glee at all knows the wonderful image of a plaque at the beginning of the first episode which reads, " Glee by its very definition is about opening yourself up to joy" I admit I first watched glee online out of a sense of boredom one night. But, something about that one line really spoke to me as ringing true.  When it comes right down to the bare bones of it, we choose to be happy. Each of us most decide if we are going to focus on the bad things that happen to each of us, or if we will focus of the good things that happen. It is in no way the big fix. Just deciding you want to focus on the good does not make the bad go away. All it really does is free yourself to except the joy that all ready exists in your life.