The power of joy

I’ve spent the past few days celebrating the full abundance of Spring: as April turns into May, we are surrounded by this abundance, as the rising energy of Spring reaches its peak. 

We can see it in the blooming of the flowers and the greening of the trees.

We can hear it in the symphony of birdsong.

We can feel it in the increasing warmth of the sun on our faces.

In the turning of the wheel of the year, this is the point when our ancestors paused to celebrate this Spring energy of abundance and vitality.

This is the point where they stepped out of their day-to-day existence for a moment.

The point where they paused, to honour and give thanks for all the abundance around them.

The point where they let go of daily chores and responsibilities for a while and allowed themselves to fully embrace joy.

Our ancestors named this celebration Beltane.

Variations and remnants of it have survived over the centuries, in the form of May Day celebrations, Maypole, and Morris dancing, for example.

And the celebration of Beltane itself survives still, in many places across the UK.

This year, I gathered with hundreds of others to celebrate Beltane in Glastonbury.

We greeted the sunrise on top of Glastonbury Tor.

We gathered in the Chalice Well Gardens, for meditation and reflection, for music and dancing.

We witnessed, and joined, the Beltane community parade and ceremony: a celebration of the beautiful balance and joyful connection of the energies of the feminine and the masculine - embodied in the May Queen and King, and expressed through the raising of the Maypole, through gathering in circle, through song and music, through dance and movement.

There is so much I have taken with me from this weekend of Beltane celebrations.

So much for me to reflect on and process.

And my biggest takeaway that I’m feeling right now from Beltane is the invitation to lean into joy.

So many of us are raised and conditioned in a culture that rewards “hard” work and hyper-productivity, and holds self-sacrifice and self-denial up as virtues.

In this context, joy and pleasure are often seen as frivolous.

At best, as nice-to-haves, as brief antidotes to the overwhelm and exhaustion of virtuous hard work.

At worst, as self-indulgent, perhaps even selfish.

And I think that’s why it felt so moving, and so liberating, at this year’s Beltane celebrations, to lean into and embrace joy.

To experience joy not just as a brief respite from its opposite.

To experience joy not as an escape from anything.

And instead,

To experience joy as an energy that is always present in us.

To experience joy as the embodiment and expression of that energy - in whatever way feels good for you.

To experience joy as an important and sacred aspect of ourselves.

Beltane is a reminder to notice the joy that is all around us in the natural world - particularly at this time of the year.

And it is a reminder that we too are the natural world.

And so it is a reminder to feel the joy within us.

A reminder that the joy is always there, within us.

I invite you to take your own Beltane pause today:

To look at the flowers.

To listen to the birds.

To feel the warmth of the sun on your face.

To spend some time really being present with the evidence and energy of Spring - whatever form that takes for you.

Can you really notice, and marvel at, the abundance that is everywhere in the natural world right now?

Can you really feel, and be open to, the energy of unbridled joy that is present in this abundance?

Can you lean into that joy? Feel it within you?

Can you express that joy? In whatever way feels right for you: you might dance, you might laugh, you might sing, you might create. Can you let go of “hard” work and “shoulds” and simply feel, and express the joy that is waiting within you?

Nature, in all its abundance, is primed and ready to support and encourage you as you lean into your joy.

This is the invitation of Spring.

The invitation of Beltane💜