Is Joy Really Free?

'Tis the season of giving, but what does that actually mean?

I know we give gifts, celebrate with family and do or do not do the whole Santa thing, but why is it that the holidays bring about some of the happiest and most stressful times of our life?

Is it because we want to be able to give our loved ones the gifts they really want that we secretly can't afford? Is it that we feel even more lonely during this time, especially if we live far away from our loved ones? Or is it because we feed into this constant demand of needing to be, do and have more...?

It could possibly be a combination of everything, but at the end of the day, the only thing that we really want to be is who we are and relieve ourselves of the thoughts that we aren't doing or have enough... 

This year at MaeMae we wanted to open our hearts in the spirit of Joy and Generosity and focus on the things that really matter while giving the other thoughts that don't serve us any momentum to penetrate the deepest part of us.

To do that our first priority is focusing on the person that matters most and what we have the most control over—ourselves.  (like putting on the oxygen mask first then assisting others)

Clearing the clutter of my mind has been the biggest gamechanger in my feelings heading into the holidays.  

Recognizing my own insecurities and how I can easily deplete my own joy meter had me insanely sad (as you can read from my last blog).  Because the truth is I wanna be nice to myself and talk to myself in a way that supports me instead of tearing me down.

Oh, and what sent me on another spiral was realizing the path of destruction it was causing by projecting them onto others and well, you know what that can do...

So a few weeks ago I set out on a journey to find the root causes of what was killing my joy and have been working on getting me back to me.  

Thankfully JOY is free... and thankfully JOY is me. 

This realization came from talking with people in "safe" spaces that allowed me to be vulnerable and feel what I need to feel and not making me wrong for any of it. This also came from being honest with myself and acknowledging the areas of my life that I put myself down and pressure myself to be more that I could be in the moment.

Let's be honest - we all want to be better and do better... 

And while there's no secret formula, the best thing you can do is uncover your own sources of Joy and spread that out into the world.

My joy is found in expressing myself.  While my gratitude is felt in simply breathing.

Keep it simple. Keep it honest. Keep being you, wherever you are.

Breathing joy into your heart,

Rheena Mae