Practicing Joy

Weekly wisdom to level up your creative life in 3 minutes, for free.

A SHORT STORY

I took Anastasiia’s mom to her second Broadway show on Thursday.
It was the first piece of theater she’d seen since the war began.

Afterward, she was buzzing with joy.
“My cheeks hurt. I’m so happy!” she said, beaming.
She was in awe of their facial expressions, their voices, the sheer joy that seemed to radiate from the stage.

As we walked through the streets of New York toward the subway, she said something I’ve been reflecting on ever since:
“Ukraine needs this so much right now. We need to gather around joy.”

It reminded me of a story Anne Bogart, the theater director, once shared with me when I was in my twenties:

In the middle of the war in Bosnia, Susan Sontag traveled to Sarajevo and staged a production of Waiting for Godot with local actors.
There was no electricity. No heat. No running water.
The theater was unheated.
The actors performed bundled in coats.
And yet, audiences came—walking through bombed-out streets to see the performance.

It brought to mind that line often attributed to Neruda:
You can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the spring.

As a theater artist, I often forget how powerful it is to simply gather.
To sit among strangers, and celebrate together.

It reminds me that the world is a holy place.
A place where we are invited, again and again, to practice joy.

How do you choose to practice joy today?

A POEM

“Consciousness Arising” by Maliki Moran

I tried to explain to the flowers on the banks of the river that they honestly had chosen an awful time to sprout. I detailed all the nuance of international tariffs and suggested they wait a bit to see how things shake out.

They swayed with polite attention as I outlined my position on the effects of the weakened dollar in the day's stock market route. But I do not think they listened as they lifted their heads defiantly and their Azure pedals did not display any doubts as they stood up.

Grateful,

Michael