Creation post

I've been mulling over taking the leap into blogging for quite some time. Inspired by Jenni's "Travels with Alex" and recent lectures about keeping up with current trends in communication, I have finally taken the first step, which has been quick and painless--sign up for a blog and start typing.

Besides techno-fear, here's the other thing that had been holding me back: thinking of something to say! Now that I am an over-50, single, career woman staring retirement in the eye in the not-too-distant future, I don't have anything going on in my life that is overly interesting or intriguing. Why would anyone want to read about me? I'm just a run-of-the-mill, 21st century baby boomer who will soon switch to over-the-hill, average Betty---somebody who hasn't much to show for being on this planet for nearly 51 years. I live with a dog, a cat, a canoe, a bicycle, a pair of skiis, and a car.

But what I really really want, more than anything else is to live with joy. And that's the inspiration I finally found for writing this blog.

My closest friend told me last night how sad she is, how hard it is to find happiness, let alone joy. She felt she had no excuse to feel so despondent. Didn't she have everything anyone could ever want? Wasn't she surrounded by people who love her? Why, she agonized, couldn't she experience the contentment that ought to come with such gifts? Why couldn't she just be happy?

I wished I could reach into my friend's soul and plant a little seed of joy. I wished I could water it every day and turn it into a beautiful, flowering tree that would send her dancing into the meadows of life, shouting her happiness, embracing the clouds, finally realizing what a gift she is to others, to herself.

The problem is, we can't donate joy to anyone else. We can't lend it. We can't borrow it. And we certainly can't buy it. The only way we can have joy is to create it--each of us on our own. So this blog is dedicated to my friend--and to me. I'm going to use it to document my search for joy. Maybe it will give others ideas or inspiration for their own sojourns. And this is indeed a sojourn each one of us will take at some time or another.

I don't think anyone gets through life scott-free of this trip. Because the search for joy is also the search for God.

I hope you'll follow my travels and that you'll give a helping hand to all those around you who are on similar journeys (yourself included).