Joy

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice

Date: 13th century

1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3: a source or cause of delight

Function: verb

Date: 14th century

intransitive verb

: to experience great pleasure or delight : rejoice

transitive verb

1 archaic : gladden

2 archaic : enjoy

Last comment added: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:15:34 PDT

Comment 1 on Joy

Words sometimes fascinate me. Their meaning. Their origin. How they are used and misused. How the meanings grow and change in the culture.

Today I have been thinking about joy.

Somehow, someone who is full of joy is different than someone who is a joy.

I am thinking that a person who is a joy is a person who is a source of joy. Their joy is internal and conditions how they act, how they are.

Is the source of joy internal or external and does it matter?

(When I looked up the definition of joy above, I was amazed to see that it was a noun for almost 100 years or more before it was used as a verb!)

Comment 2 on Joy

Is the source of joy internal or external and does it matter?

Both and it doesn't - at least, not enough to fall out about! (my 2p)

Comment 3 on Joy

I want to play devil's advocate (imagine that!) for a minute or three.

I am feeling like joy that arises externally is an imitation of the joy that comes from inside us. Somehow I believe that real joy that comes from inside us changes how we view our lives and how we do things rather than being a momentary diversion and good for some laughs.

I will sleep on it .... only 3 more sleeps here in Thailand and hopefully one on a plane ....

Comment 4 on Joy

Tasha Tudor the well-known artist and writer of children's books died this June. I wonder if you know her work? My mother was very fond of it and in many ways identified with Tudor. I love the books too. I'm not really sure I remember them much form childhood, but I do remember reading some to nieces and nephews. Some picture books are quite moving and very engaging for children and adults. Tudor's books are fun and entertaining, and the illustrations are really quite brilliant for the many ways they engage children. For example if there is a statue in the town square, the pedestal has a readable inscription on it. There is always more to discover in the pictures once the story is read. Some one of her books I read part of Fra Giovanni's Take Joy

Take Joy!

I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not;

but there is much, that while I cannot give, you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.

Take Heaven.

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant.

Take Peace.

The gloom of the world is but a shadow,

behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy.

Take Joy.

And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you,

with the prayer that for you,

now and forever, the day breaks

and the shadows flee away.

The idea that joy is for taking is an idea I like.

Comment 5 on Joy

I believe that we make intentional decisions on how we choose to experience life. What lens we choose to view things through. So I can choose to take the lens of joy and live a joyous life or I can choose otherwise and be a curmudgeon. When I choose a lens of joy, the joy radiates from inside me and does not require entertainment to sustain it.

I am not familiar with Tasha Tudor as far as I looked which wasn't very deep) but in looking I am reminded of Beatrix Potter ... I just watched Miss Potter the other night. What a totally lovely movie.

Off to finish the homework grading before I have to catch my plane. :-D

Comment 6 on Joy

I do enjoy your exploration of words Linda, and it makes me want to follow your musings on them more--to pay attention to your word playing threads.

Inside outside where are the boundaries of joy?

Lately your musings have me reading more about the history of Western philosophy and landing over and over on pages on the Catholic Encyclopedia site.

The attribution of "Take Joy!" to Fra Giovanni Giocondo isn't sure. It seems the provenance can't be reliably confirmed before the 1930's. Still, there's such wisdom in the words. Perhaps it's rather like the peace prayer--"Lord make me an instrument of your peace"--attributed to St. Francis, but written in the 1920's by an unknown author.

Fra Giovanni was instrumental in making Greek texts more available in Europe. I get so confused by what's meant by Logos in the Catholic tradition. Reason and authority have such a rocky relationship. So, it's really besides the point, but the attribution of "Take Joy" is really curious to me.

One of the books that's been on my self since I was a kid is "Word and Object" by Willard Van Orman Quine. I didn't get much from it when I first read it and over the years I've picked it up and just never seem to "get" what he's saying. I suppose there's insight there into the trickiness of an objective reference in the meaning of joy. Joy perhaps is inter-subjective so the precise location as an object is difficult if not impossible to pinpoint.

Here's a quote from Albert Schwietzer:

Sometimes our inner light goes out, but it is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.

Surely relationships are key to of experience of joy. But while there's a sense that others bring joy to us, there also is a sense in which others cannot take our joy away from us.

**Joy**

**Joy**

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