JOY
Welcome to JOY, a special popup edition of Temple in the City. This edition isn’t meant to change the world or make light of the darkness so many feel and see around them. But we hope it will act like a sudden sunburst. A reminder that good things, beautiful things, glorious things happen all the time, all around us. Life grows in the most inhospitable places. We grow with it, whether we like it or not.
Some of the work here is just a few words. Or just the right words. Sometimes nonsense words or nonsense use of words. Words to make you smile or laugh or feel, for a moment, the warmth of a friendly sun, the touch of a loving breeze, the touch of another being, human or animal, equally in the dark, equally looking for strength to keep going. That moment can fuel the next moment, and the next. It doesn’t need anything else. It just is.
This idea started as a single, one-off micro edition but joy can’t be captured or limited. So we’re going to keep it alive and moving by making it an ongoing, open-ended issue. When a spark of joy comes our way, we’ll add it here.
Please let this issue wash over you. Let it give you some relief amid the burdens of being alive, with all that trying. Don’t ask it to be anything more or less than it is, then give yourself that same kindness.
We hope you find joy, here and everywhere you can.
