Happiness seems to require having a well-ordered life avoiding difficulty or discord, while joy can and does show up anywhere, often unexpectedly.
[…]
Joy is a desubjectifying process, an unfixing, an intensification of life itself. It is a process of coming alive and coming apart.
[…]
Plants are anything but passive.
[…]
They made the world.
R.S.
Black woman joy is like this:
Mama said one day long before I was born
she was walking down the street,
foxes around her neck, their little heads
smiling up at her and out at the world
[…]
This day was for foxes and hip rhythm
and musical perfection and folks on the street joining in the celebration
of breath and holiness. And they did too. In color-coordinated ensembles,
they kicked and turned and grinned and shouted like church
or football game, whatever their religious preference. The air
vibrated with music, arms, legs, and years of unrequited
sunshine.
The Language of Joy by Jacqueline Allen Trimble
