There are moments of sunshine all around you. This newsletter hopes to serve as an inspiration to find joy in your life each day.

In this week's Sunshine in Your Inbox, we'll talk about what happens when joy stops being effortless.

When Joy Feels Like Work

I need to tell you something that feels a little vulnerable: joy has been feeling like work lately.

Not the good kind of work that feels energizing and fun. I'm talking about the heavy, uphill kind of work.

And honestly, I feel like a bit of a fraud writing to you about finding sunshine when some days I'm lost in old episodes of Survivor instead of going after that big joy life.

But I'm reminding myself that joy feels like work sometimes and it doesn't mean there's something wrong with me. Doing that work is actually a sign that I'm taking care of myself even when it is difficult.

It's like when we're sick. We rest, take medicine, hydrate, eat soup. We do the work of healing, even when we don't feel like it.

So why do we expect joy to be different when our spirits are struggling? And why would I add any more pressure on myself as if I'm not a human who goes through all of the peaks and valleys of being alive.

These days, my joy work looks like:

• A weekly dance class. This is brand new to me and something I've wanted to do for damn near 30 years
• Volunteering weekly with an organization so that I'm out in the world and interacting with new people
• Slow mornings that involve writing to myself and listening to a book
• Protecting my energy by taking a break from social media, taking myself on solo dates, and being intentional about who I spend time with
• Writing this newsletter when I'm not sure I have anything cheerful to say

It's not glamorous. It doesn't feel spontaneous or magical. But it's still tending to the possibility of joy, even when joy feels far away.

Maybe the scaffolding we build around joy such as the structures, habits, and deliberate choices are how we continue to connect to our joy when it feels harder to access. And it helps keep the door open to more joyful opportunities.

I don't know when joy will stop feeling like work for me. But I'm learning that doing the work anyway might be its own kind of sunshine.

What does your joy work look like these days?

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Wishing you moments of brightness, even when they take effort to find!

PS. Did you like this newsletter? Share it with someone who you think might enjoy a little ray of sunshine in their inbox too! 🥰

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