I've CHASED power.

I've CHASED wealth.

I've CHASED titles.

I've CHASED health.

I've CHASED busyness.

I've CHASED many, many different things for many, many different reasons.

And now--Now I spend as much time as possible CHASING JOY.

It doesn't seem to be instinctive for humans to CHASE that. At least not for this human.

We don't CHASE JOY the way a dog CHASES cats. Or cats CHASE mice. For me, I have to set my mind to it. I have to do it intentionally.

I think part of it is that we think of JOY as either being there or not. We enjoy it when it is there; we deal with it when it's not.

But I've come to believe in CHASING JOY.

I wake up every morning and think about ways to actually CHASE JOY.

I've mentioned it before: I'm not much of a sleeper, so I've got a lot of silent, still thinking time. I think about all the things I need to accomplish and all the calls I need to make and all the projects I'm working on. But CHASING JOY is on my long list of things to consider as well. So when the time finally comes every morning when I can get out of bed without it being so early it's just plain weird, I've given a lot of thought about a lot of things, including how to CHASE JOY the upcoming day.

Some days CHASING JOY takes more effort than others. Some days you can look and look and look and it takes great effort to find even a teensy, tiny bit of JOY.

On other days JOY is waiting right there for you, ready to be CHASED and caught and enJOYed.

And then there are days when you CHASED JOY and you got it and you are just basking in it with a big ole smile on your face and a song in your heart.

And then one of those "joy suckers" comes around. It could be a sad or disappointing event, or a negative person. Those are the times you've got to hang on tight to your JOY. Close it tightly in your hand and don't let go. It's yours afterall. We can't let someone or something take it away from us. 

I find JOY in little things and medium-sized things and big things.

I find JOY in that first swig of my first cup of coffee every morning,

I find JOY when I brush by and catch a wiff of the rosemary bush beside my walkway,

I find JOY in the birds that frequent my feeder,

I find JOY in Strudel, my dog,

And how could I not mention before now? JOY of JOY! I find tons of JOY constantly in my hubby and my daughter.

I found JOY the other day when my daughter won the 3rd grade spelling bee at her school. WOOHOO! 3rd grade champ! (And that makes me think about a man I used to work with who was a JOY to work with, but was the worst speller in the world. I bought him a t-shirt that said on the front: "Bad Spellers of the World Untie." haha.)

I found JOY yesterday when I cooked lunch for and served it to some folks in our community who needed a warm meal and a warm smile and warm words. I hope they found some JOY too.

And right this very minute?

I look out the window and see the beauitful pink and orange sunset. JOY!

And I'm thinking about all the things you might share with us in a comment that brings you JOY and that brings me JOY.

And---Well, I'm writing this and packing in a hurry. And that is both JOY now and JOY to come.

It's Thursday and I would usually post next Tuesday (I post every other Tuesday). I'm writing this early because I'm headed out to go CHASE my JOY. (No computers or internet where this JOY is.)

This JOY I'm CHASING is snowy. (I apologize to you folks who are sick of winter. But remember, I live in the south! The words "Winter Storm Advisory" are music to my very ears.) 

And I just heard it! The weather man says that our Smoky Mountain Farm will be hit with a Winter Storm. A biggy! It should be absolutely dumped on by snow! My Snow Globe!

Well, maybe.

If it is not snow, the weather man says, then it will be sleet and ice.

We have thought this thing through and know that prudence dictates that we stay home.

Poo on that.

We're taking our chances.

We have figured out a way to lay out of work Friday and head up in the morning. I feel strange and a bit guilty about my daughter missing school to CHASE JOY, but...well, that's what we're doing...

And fingers crossed....

I hope there will be a winter storm and I hope we can get there before it and I hope there won't be too much ice and I hope we'll have power and I hope we'll get tons of snow and I hope there is plenty of firewood...

But even if none of those things happen. I'll still find JOY there because that's what our mountain farm is, instant JOY for me.

So I leave you now to go pack some clothes and groceries while I sing, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay....."

How do you CHASE JOY? Where do you FIND JOY?

Until next time, Friends, savor the flavor of life!
Lots of love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah 

******FRIDAY NOON: UPDATE******

So much for that. We chickened out. When we were about to leave a few hours ago we checked the weather predictions one last time. The timing of the storm had changed. The predicted highs after the storm were lower. And, both ice and snow were now being forecasted. We couldn't be snowed in there for more than a day or two. So, we stayed home.

Oh well, I'll be CHASING JOY here this weekend instead!

Another update: I just posted a picture of how we CHASED and FOUND JOY at home this weekend at www.rebekahteal.com.