Times like these... or welcome to the real Chicken Licken life.

Well. They're funny old days these. And when we look closer, possibly the most liberated we've ever been in. Or with the potential to be the most liberated we've ever been. I listen to myself talk to my daughter about what she can be, do, when she grows up. It's not a limited list. 

Yet still, antidepressant use is high, anxiety levels are through the roof, we're living, on one level, with the most disconnected, and at the same time, most intimately connected young people there ever have been. Perhaps not just the young either.

Unprecedented times. So said Caroline Myss last year in Findhorn. She also said, which has really stuck with me, that this life is NOT personal. It's not all about you. We are having a personal experience of the impersonal. Which helps me a lot. In these days of constant news, social media updates and a never ending stream of information, it's easy to think the world is out to get you.Or at least, that it's a dangerous place. That's not to play down the difficulties faced by many in these times either, however for most of us it's easy to get into a Chicken Licken state. 

Do you remember Chicken Licken? It was a children's story when I was young. In case you haven't had it read to you countless times, then it's here. But the concept is that Chicken Licken believes that the sky is falling down, finds all her friends who panic and they all find Fox-lox (who must be happy to find all these panicked beasts), and instead of joining them to find the king and tell him the sky has fallen down, eats them instead. It would be easy to get into a panic about the state of the world, get vulnerable, scared and subsequently find a metaphorical Fox-lox. For some scared might be the right response, I am not here to judge. For many though, I believe it is not.

I've been pondering on joy over the last few days (and much longer I suppose). Recently though, how frequently we take a conscious decision to tap into joy. Briefly, to quantify, for me, joy goes beyond happiness. We can feel happy that the sun is shining. Or that we've a new purchase. For me joy goes way beyond happy. I feel it in my cells. I feel a lightness, something deeper, more effervescent, more intimate, more entangled with my being here on this planet.

So back on track, joy. How often do you remember what it feels like to feel it? How often do you take the time to consciously breathe it into all your cells? I think I'd forgotten for a while to exercise my joy muscle (hmm that sounds mildly cheeky). But seriously, how can we expect to have joy more often if we don't practice?! No tennis star would expect to win a game from a place of no practice. It's barely any surprise so many feel anxiety or distress when much of what we get bombarded with triggers that response short term.

My two times I've felt the most empowered, the most joyful were childbirth and shortly after my ex-husband had left (and I was a bit of a mess in both times, but transcending the mess, there was the most amazing feeling). Childbirth for me was powerful, an interconnected feeling with all the women who've ever given birth and ever shall (the birthplan itself didn't go to plan but that is irrelevant here). A primal, primitive feeling I've not felt before or since. Except when I've chosen to. Which slightly contradicts me there. I've not spontaneously felt it. But breathing it in, recreating, allowing that strength, that passion, that deep love for all of mankind. Now that's something I've been practicing the last few days. And I'm feeling the benefit. I stand taller, I feel prouder, gentler, more compassionate all in one.

The other time was a far lighter feeling, I remember walking with baby in baby bjorn (OK I know - I'd not do again but then knowing no better about hip alignments, subsequently I've loved my ErgoBaby), and looking around myself when out of nowhere a bubbling, light, beautiful feeling came from deep inside me. Again a feeling of interconnectedness, a one-ness. I've been feeling that one recently too.

I believe we can recreate emotions, strengthen memories and change our outlook on the world. We can create stronger muscles, better moves and affect our abilities to do anything. All it takes is practice. I might never be an ultra runner (there's a tiny bit of me thinks there's at least the one marathon in me though) but who minds. If I get to be a little bit of a better runner each time I run, that'll do for me.

So will you do it? Will you think of the time you felt happiest, most connected, most joyful, most content, and will you tap into that feeling at least once a day for the next few days?

I'd really love to hear what you think and how it goes.,

With joy,

Em x