The Seed

I want to invite you to come on a journey with me, a journey to claim joy.

What is joy? How does it differ from happiness? Is it different from happiness?

Almost eight years ago, I sat as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, listening to General Conference – a worldwide conference held biannually. Something very significant happened that day, something that changed me and continues (even now, eight years later) to return to my mind again and again. It has carried such weight in my life that it is why I am sitting here, writing this post. The thing of such significance was simple, President Russel M. Nelson – then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles – stood up and gave an address entitled ‘Joy and Spiritual Survival’. It struck me so profoundly that I can confidently say that no address given in the years before or after has ever made such an impact on my life. My mind has returned to it continually, and I believe that for the past eight years, the Spirit has been preparing me to begin the journey that I am starting today – to delve deeply into the study of joy and share everything I am learning along the way.

The idea for this came more clearly and automatically than most revelation I have ever received. I was standing in the shower after an exhausting day of caring for three small children, keeping our home somewhat orderly, maintaining good grades in school, and trying to care for myself and my husband… the list goes on and on. I was listening to a more recent General Conference address – which was not about joy or anything closely related – and I suddenly realized that joy and the study of it were much more important to me than I had ever realized. I realized that deep inside me, one of my life goals (one that I didn’t know existed) was to study and experience joy and help others to do the same. I also realized that I would never be able to teach anyone anything about joy unless I started studying it myself – now.

And so here I am. I have spent the last several weeks following the prompting I received that night in the shower. I created ‘Happy as the Sun’, I made a logo, I have my own product, and I am committed to learning and sharing everything I can about joy. Let me be clear: I was - and still am - absolutely terrified of this journey. But I am willing to take it because I know it is something Heavenly Father wants me to do, and I pray every day that I will be enough and that I can be a tool in His hands to help someone, even if it’s just one person, along the way.

Now, beloved reader, I want to invite you to come on this journey with me. This idea, this quest, is like a seed. I am planting it now. I promise to water it, to care for it, and maybe it will grow into something beautiful. I am far from perfect. I feel completely and totally unqualified to fulfill this task, but I hope we can grow and learn together. My goal is to explore the questions at the top of the page and beyond. Please come back each week. Please ask your Father in Heaven to teach you about and to give you joy. Please be a light in this world. Please reach out to me, share what you are learning, and give me questions to ponder. Thank you so much for your time and your trust in me. I am ecstatic as I think about what we might discover together.