The Effervescent Act

"Sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud."

~Shakespeare

 

Opportunity never ceases, it's just sometimes covered up by whatever you let in. Happiness, joy, love--the big bad words that nobody likes to think about if they can get away with it--are really the makeup of satisfaction. Of course, there's always confidence, faith, will, and all that good stuff that get you going, but when you narrow it down...

 

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

~Lincoln

It's like a secret code or something, that sounds stupid until you actually get it. Didn't you know that happiness is an on-off switch in your brain and all you have to do is flip it!

 

Sometimes it doesn't seem that easy, and maybe it isn't. Takes a considerable amount of either practice for some, or simple truth for others. I'm probably right in between.

 

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity--it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud." ~Life of Pi pg. 6

 

An interesting concept if nothing else. So if gloom is only ever temporary, then what is there to be joyous about on a sunny (metaphorically speaking) day? Well that's the real mystery. I find my joy in: life (in general), beauty (art, music, writing), creation (related to beauty and life), and a simple assurance of faith in Christ to help me through any situation the world has to offer.

 

"I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul."

~Psalm 31:7

 

People are going to show this joy in very different ways. One of my side-effects is jitteriness, which can turn into confidence, that can lead to the opening of my heart and mind, per se. The perfect solution would begin with a certain self-blindness, in that you become more aware of those around you. The typical idea or example of joy and/or happiness is perhaps seen as an act of effervescence. People jump up and down, offer hugs to strangers, run up and down the street in the middle of the night, whatever shows that you are not yourself, that you are not currently on your normal, human default mode when joyous.

 

Effervescent [ef-er-VES-uhnt]:

1. High-spirited; vivacious; lively.
2. Effervescing; bubbling.

Effervescence can be a good way of communicating love to others. Pray it over and figure it out. There's always a way :)

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

~1John 4:10-13