So, I’ve been recently focusing on joy because of this one persistent thought manifesting to me.

“If it doesn’t create more joy in your life, what’s the point?”

A persistent inquiry thought (one that raises a question) is always a clear sign that The Creator is guiding me forward into an expansion by providing me something to reflect on and eventually take action on as well.

So, in this article I will be exploring this inquiry further and how I am reflecting on it.

And tbh, it is changing my life! And I’m certain will change yours too.

Creating more joy

So, the example I was shown was actually in relationship to healing. Doing deep inner work, shadow work, mindset work, whatever you want to call it.

What’s the point of all this deep healing if it isn’t actually making your life better? If you don’t leave it feeling so much more centered and have more wellbeing in life?

Seriously??

I’m sure we’ve all fallen into a healing trap rut before and that in itself really deserves it’s own article, but essentially it’s where you get stuck on fixing things or making something better but nothing actually feels better as a result, sometimes it’s quite the opposite.

So yeah, I had a Eureka moment!

You are allowed to live life just primarily based off of how you want to feel. And living a life that feels good to you.

Might seem like such a simple, obvious concept but to a farm girl that was taught and had to live a life of “hard work with no gains”, was taught to put aside my personal feelings and desires to get the work done, and was taught that struggling is our way in life, this was huge.

Allowing myself to live a life that’s based around feeling good? Around my wellbeing? Around actually just following my desires and bringing them into life?

That next level of “selfishness”?

WOW.

I really thought that I was doing this already.

I’ve been doing mindset work, incredibly deep inner healing and shadow work, & being mindful about my inner self + self-concepts, and somehow in all of that I got lost in just going after the next thing “to heal.”

Prioritizing my pleasure and my joy?

Not as a secondary thing or as a “bonus”, but as a primary principle in my life?

Revolutionary.

My relationship to joy & ancestral programming

If you’ve listened to my podcast, Goddess Essence, I’ve shared some episodes exploring healing your relationship to joy, to desire, to pleasure and shared a little bit about my backstory.

Essentially, neither of these are values or energy that anyone in my family prioritized growing up.

My immigrant parents wouldn’t even really know true joy or the meaning of desire when their whole was built around the principle of sacrifice and sacrificing their personal desires & wellbeing to create a better future for their children.

This energy of joy, desire, and pleasure is so foreign a concept, that I am still learning about it into my mid-20s and really beginning to implement it into my life and focus on experiencing it.

I’ve dedicated so many episodes on my podcast to releasing shame & the burdens that inhibit the growth and expression of these energies of joy, desire, pleasure and overall life goodness.

It’s been a major theme in my life!! Unfortunately, the more I look around at life and other people, the more I’m seeing that this isn’t too uncommon of an issue!!

Why are we so joy deprived?

Ancestral programming & passed on values

First, I believe it starts from here.

The ancestral programming and the values instilled into us.

We are joy deprived because we were not taught to value joy, desire, and pleasure.

In fact, you may have been taught the EXACT opposite!! That these are all frivolous, meaningless, hedonistic things.

The real deal is endless hard-work, sacrifice, over-giving, being a martyr, a people-pleaser, and staying in the comfortable + secure, ammiright?

News flash, NO!

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some good qualities in there when balanced properly but the point I’m trying to make is that having opposing beliefs will hinder the freedom & energy necessary for joy to blossom.

And it’s something we all crave from life because in some part of our spirit, we are connected and we remember the sublime pleasure of being one with our Creator and knowing true joy.

So, the questions for you are;

• What has your programming been around joy, pleasure, and desire?

• What did your parent’s teach you?

• What did you observe from them and from your environment growing up?

• How much did you see them experiencing joy, pleasure, desire, & prioritizing their wellbeing?

Be aware, this is not superficial

We are NOT running away from pain! This is not that sort of superficial hedonism.

Even if it may not feel good in the present as it is happening, if the effects are that it brings more joy into your life, then do it.

For example: You are upset and are crying over some argument or conflict in your life.

What NOT to do is ignoring your feelings and distracting yourself through the pursuits of mindless pleasure consumption.

(This is how addictions begin and also how we lose presence and connection with ourselves which is essential to be tuned into our spirit and to connect to The Beloved within us.)

What TO DO is to move with your heart open and be tapped into your Sovereignty as you navigate these painful waters, by feelings your feels and letting yourself have full emotional expression while being mindful of not falling victim or giving your power away to negative thought patterns & beliefs that come up during this time frame.

Simple but also deeply transformative and takes a shit ton of strength & courage!

So learning to move through the deeper realms of the underworld within us and not run from conflict, pain, and fear is the grounding we need to be tapped into true blissful joy, pleasure, and desire in life.

So, what are you holding onto?

I hope you read this and look into yourself to see where you could incorporate more joy and see where you may be holding onto things/energies/mindsets in your life that are preventing the space for expansion of joy.

If there is something external to you, you must also know that the external is a reflection of what is within you.

Releasing external things must also be combined with the inner reflection and inner redirection of energy that allowed for there to be an attachment in the first place with the external thing.

So next time, when we’ve cleaned up our side of the street there won’t be any space to allow the non-aligned external thing back.

• Be clear on what you want (or don’t want but focus on the positive manifestation)

• Set your boundaries.

• Raise your standards

• Clean up your energy

• Release attachment to external thing

In terms of joy, you can ask yourself where you might believe you are not allowed to experience joy.

Your external world is simply a playground of manifestation of your internal beliefs.

The true reality is consciousness. Once you shift what is happening within, it will shift in the external.

Get joyful

Life gets to feel good. It really does. Believe it.

I’m re-evaluating over my life and seeing where I can bring more joy and what can no longer move forward with me into my joy-land!

I hope you enjoyed this intuitive share I’ve been going through.

Happy soul explorations, divine besties! Leave a comment below & let me know what resonated with you.

What has your relationship to joy been? And what are you still holding onto that doesn’t bring you that inner fulfillment? Why?

Stay jolly and I will see you in the future.

XOXO

Gurjot