Practicing Self-Love through the Joy of Being

A few days ago, I channeled Mother Mary for a bi-monthly gathering of Mother Mary’s Circle of Love, entitled It’s Time for Joy! In the weeks leading to and culminating with the gathering, Mother Mary took me on a journey of discovering what joy of being really is and how to feel it. This was so wonderful that I needed to share it here with you.

Find out more about Mother Mary’s Circle of Love, a co-creation for more love and light in the world.

What is Joy?

Joy is an energy that is part of our Divine essence. 

We can feel joy always, regardless of the river of emotions that flows through us that we may also be feeling. It is not either or, it is not rising above, it is….

SIMPLY BEING. 

Joy isn’t a fake smile or fake laughter. It isn’t a cover-up for what we are truly feeling. It doesn’t promise fortunes to come, or some blissful state we may achieve some day – when we finally get there. 

Joy is HERE, NOW.

It is intimately connected to our choice to allow ourselves to be, beyond the shoulds and shouldn’ts.

JOY IS THE LIGHTNESS OF BEING YOU. 

Freedom to Be Who You Are

We feel joy when we give ourselves freedom to be who we are. As simple as that. 

Simple yes, yet how often do we do this? 

In your mind, go over your day. How many things do you do because: (a) you have always done them; (b) you were told to do them; (c) you weren’t exactly told to do them, but it’s by and large expected? 

How many choices do you make that deny who you are and what you really want to do in a given moment? I am not talking about ditching responsibility and running away from your life. I am talking about those small (and sometimes big) urges to, say, move your body when it’s expected of you to be still, dressing in a particular way, while dying to wear something else, or swallowing those tears when all you really want to do is let them flow… denying ourselves the freedom to be and express who we are. 

When you allow yourself the freedom to be and express who you are, you are practicing self-love and empowering yourself greatly. Yes, other people may think you are crazy, and this may sometimes be scary. However, in my book, the crazier people think I am, the more I know I am on the right path – my path. Being on my path means being crazy enough to realize that – no matter what, I want to be me. And guess what?

No one can tell you how to be you – only you can do this, because only you are you!

Also, nothing can contain you as no one can contain joy that is an integral part of who you truly are!

Feeling and Expressing Joy

Joy, like you, can be expressed in many ways, quietly, vocally, through movement or stillness. It can be felt in your whole body. It expands far beyond your body and helps others feel it in the most challenging of circumstances. 

To feel joy is to allow yourself to be. In this moment, in this body, on Earth. To just be. You may start by feeling gratitude for your life, a sense of wonder, body sensations, like the air on your skin, and then feel the joy of being rise within you, slowly or quickly bubbling up and bursting into expression – your own unique expression of joy!

Can you let yourself experience yourself, right here, right now? If you let yourself be exactly how you are and who you are, what would you do now? How would you be?

Making This Moment Count

Joy of being is not oblivious to life’s challenges or blind to suffering. Joy is being fully aware of these aspects of life on Earth, and making a choice to make this moment count, to be fully engaged with it while marveling at this wondrous thing called LIFE and this amazing being that is YOU. 

Allowing Others To Be

When joy meets joy, it recognizes the other’s choice to be who they are, and it expands even more. Freedom to be who you are meets freedom to allow others to be who they are, celebrating each other and our amazing differences, finding our way to the love that connects us all. Practicing self-love through the joy of being enables us to be more loving to others, allowing ourselves and others freedom to be and touch our Divine nature.  

We completed Mother Mary’s Circle of Love gathering with such wide smiles on our faces, for no reason at all, but for simply being who we are. This, of course, to me is the most amazing reason of all.

Access Mother Mary’s Circle of Love recorded co-creation It’s Time For Joy! Let joy burst within you and spread into the world!