[Vulnerability & Power - XXV]
Joy is not the emotion we desire to get *around* suffering. Joy is the experience we have when we’ve practiced gratitude *through* the suffering.
To be clear: joy does not ignore suffering, abuse, or trauma. Instead, true joy is the fruit of gratitude in the midst of it.
Pain should not be romanticized. Suffering should never be given a free ride. We ought to never have gratitude for either; and yet through them, in the darkest of dungeons, even a crumb of bread can make us salivate. Even the tiniest ray of sun can make us smile. Even a sip of water can remind us of freedom.
The first act of joy, which is true resistance to ultimate suffering, is often actively seeking slivers of beauty, morsels of nourishment, and specks of hope.
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