Be joyful even if you think you know better

You think you know better. You think, but he’s going to leave. This is a fact. And that will make me upset, and this is a fact.

You think, but I am not working the job I really want. That’s a fact. And that is making me dissatisfied, and that is a fact.

You think, I don’t have a perfect body. The world is in chaos and people are hungry and angry and hurt and getting killed. These are facts.

You think, I can’t be joyful. I know better. The world is pale colors of gray and red. I know.

But joy is waiting underneath all of the facts that crowd your mind. All the facts that are facts, and all the facts that seem to be facts, and all the facts that are not facts at all.

Joy is bubbling underneath in a rush of cool blue to turn over your life.

Joy is the thing that makes the difference. Joy farms the land and joy shines benevolently over bugs that eat crops and people that eat food and animals that watch from the woods.

Joy lives within facts and outside of facts. Joy lives in spite of what you think. And joy transforms facts.

You don’t know better. The only thing there is to know is being alive. And being alive is joy.

“Be joyful though you've considered all the facts”

Wendell Berry

with joy and confetti,

Alexa