Many of my musings seem to gurgle up during my morning meditations. I refer to this as "clarity harvests". One morning as I was minding my breath and attempting to keep the vritties* away, I was aware of a soft thought in my head. (I need to have a commercial break here ~ as I assure you I'm not schizophrenic.) I believe meditation gives the inner-self a direct connection to the mind.
What I "heard" was... "if you want to do one thing in your life really well let it be JOY. Be a J.S.I.T. ~ a Joyous Savant In Training."
As you can tell my insights are often light-hearted which makes me pay attention and want to explore the possibilities they offer.
Now being a joyful person is quite an interesting enterprise especially when living in this world with an endless, daily supply of unexplainable wackiness. The first thing I decided as I explored this Joyful Path was not to have television in my home. I thought and now know the chatter from the screen interferes with my peacefulness.
Then I started introducing myself to everyone I met as a J.S.I.T. and in doing so described the virtual, beannie cap topped with a propeller that I wore on my head. The spinner would actually spin wildly whenever I felt joy. I might not have as many friends because of this, but it was a great learning tool for me to be more conscious of joyfulness.
I also know balance is important and that I need to feel and acknowledge all my emotions both positive and negative, but not allow them to cement me in. This awareness also allows me a shortcut back to my joyfulness.
*Vritties are what my teacher Swami Satchidananda described as the constant stream of thoughts passing through the mind. The "vritties" are like a drunken, chattering monkey, bitten by a scorpion as it's driving the car. Swamiji was a major "J".
