Warning: I will be using the Christian Christmas story as a framework for Joy Work in this post, and if that doesn’t appeal to you, feel free to skip it. 

Today marks the beginning of Advent in the Christian tradition – a season of waiting with joyful anticipation of Christmas.  Waiting in real life is often a source of frustration vs. joy.  We wait in lines, traffic, offices, and so many more places, especially around the holidays.  We wait on emails, meetings, and others to do the next step so we can keep going in our world of face-paced, goal-oriented determination.  What if we could transform our waiting spaces into joyful spaces? 

Joy Seeds are what I call simple practices that do just that – build resilience and increase our joy.  I’m preparing to share about Joyful Advent practices with a group from my church, and I thought I would share some of these ideas here as well.   Here are a few ideas of integrating Joy Seeds with the framework of the Advent story for the season.

Mary is told she is going to have a baby, and she ponders these things in her heart.  In my mind’s eye I see the image of a young woman sitting alone.  She brings a reminder for us all to take a “pregnant pause” and center ourselves with simple mindfulness exercises.  One of my favorites in bringing my hand to my heart and envisioning giving myself the nurture of skin-to-skin contact.  I remember being instructed to hold my newborn this way in what is called “koala care.” The contact is like a small hug I give myself.  I take five deep breaths and try to notice the feeling of my hand on my chest – is it warm? What is the texture of my skin there?  This space helps me come home to myself and this moment through my breath.  While I’m sitting in traffic, I often find myself taking this position with one hand, while the other is on the steering wheel and breath into the space with gratitude. 

When I was pregnant, I remember the hypersensitivity in my body – everything felt heightened.  Scan your body in your mind – from the crown of your head to your toes and notice your body with your senses.  Touch your fingertips with your thumb moving to each one with focus.  Imagine sitting with a loved one who is pregnant, nervous, and excited and the way she describes her awareness of her body. Focus in on your own body with a kind presence like you would give to Mary.

Another Joy Seed I see in Mary’s story is storytelling.  As we share our stories, we invest in relationships that help give us perspective.  In the Advent story, Mary goes to her cousin’s home and connects with two Joy Buddies – Elizabeth and John, the child in Elizabeth’s womb who literally leaps with joy at the news of Mary’s pregnancy!  This Advent I encourage you to use waiting spaces to connect with your Joy Buddies.  This could be through a simple meditation where you think of five ways someone is a blessing in your life.  It could be through sending a small text of “Thinking of you” to a loved one.  Maybe it is planning a time to savor the season in a gathering or sharing a cup of coffee.  Maybe it is remembering seasons’ past and taking time to really indulge in the memory with as many sensory details as you can conjure.  Waiting spaces can become spaces of savoring joy in your life like you would for a loved one, transforming anxiety into safe spaces of connection and joy even in the midst of uncertainty.

This season I hope to be like the shepherds being on the lookout for joy in the midst of the mundane (they had sheep – I have email and virtual meetings).  When you find yourself in waiting spaces this season, I encourage you to use them as an excuse to savor this Advent season with joy.  Seek beauty – notice and savor the colors around you (like the star above Bethlehem.)  Celebrate the connection with loved ones and reach out even in small ways (the joyful leap was tiny!) I hope this Advent season brings many moments of gratitude and joy for you and yours! 

I hope this season is a blessing to you and yours!  I am taking a hiatus from Joy Work Labs for the rest of this year but am available to chat and support your Joy Work journeys.  There is sign up is under “schedule now” and you’re also welcome to email me directly at rhass@joyworkllc.com.

Happy Holidays!