I attended a conference last week on the importance of joy in your professional work. One excellent speaker started with the word "joy," and cited the OED, Chambers Thesaurus, John Locke, Adam Potkay, Milton, Hobbes. He talked about stories of joy beginning with disunion, rupture, lack and suffering, but climaxing with some combination of striving, enduring, good luck or providence, in a (sometimes protracted) moment of (re-)union, plenitude, and harmony. Then he cited the Greek work chara and said it's etymologically connected to, and sometimes not clearly distinguished from, "grace" (Charis), the gift that is freely given.

It was a great discussion, which really challenged my thinking. So I am wondering, what is your definition of "joy?"

You ask me what I think is "joy"?
It's maybe when girls love a boy
It could be the cheer
Of a fine pint of beer
But the most is a dog with his toy!

There are songs about “Joy” (as in Ode)
And the Turner Joy, which sailors rode,
Then Joy liquid, you see,
And Joy Behar (TV),
And the thrill watching buiidings implode.

At my age, it's a really great bowel movement.

I think "joy" for me is something fun, a little whimsical and maybe even surprising (the latter was discussed with the definitions). For example, Shu and I found so much joy when we were in Menemsha (a little fishing village) in Martha's Vineyard. it seemed a somewhat whimsical place with all the old fishermen and the great fishing boats, and it sure was a surprise to us. It was not commercialized at all...just an old-fashioned fishing village. Look at that great picture on the Wikipedia site.

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we were in Menemsha (a little fishing village) in Martha's Vineyard. it seemed a somewhat whimsical place with all the old fishermen and the great fishing boats, and it sure was a surprise to us. It was not commercialized at all...just an old-fashioned fishing village.

You must have been there in the summer because every fall the vlllage is disassembled, Potemkin-ike, and stored away for the winter, to be reconstructed each spring for the summer visitors. All of the old fishermen are animotronic robots, like in Westworld, except they have specially designed circuits which prevent them from runjning amok.

At one time, in the early 1930s, there was an actual village on site but the inhabitants succumbed to a virulent form of the Red Tide, at which time the empty village was taken down in pieces.

An unfortunate aspect of the village is that the Chappaquiddick Bridge was a false front on a set, which is why Ted Kennedy, not knowing it wasn't complete, drove off the end. A little known fact is that Kennedy almost lost his life while sailing off Martha's Vineyard when his boat almost collided with the painted ocean background.

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You do seem to be sucking the joy out of it.

We were there, each time, in the fall.

I also fondly remember the Charlotte Inn there, though that is no longer there.

I am thinking that "joy" isn't a word that many people like. I do like the word.

I like it! I enJOY it! I'm going to enjoy trying the latke recipe you sent me! Thanks! Oh, I also like using a joy stick! (Proofreader, there's your cue)

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We were there, each time, in the fall.

You were lucky to have been there before the demolition began.

I would never be so crude as to comment on "joy stick". I'm hardened against that suggestion.

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You were lucky to have been there before the demolition began.

Mmhmmm, Proof.

My niece is named Joy, my grandmother was named Joy, and my daughter and other niece both have Joy as a middle name. It is quite the name in my family!

Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen,
The clouded sky is now serene,
The god of day — the orb of love,
Has hung his ensign high above,
The sky is all ablaze.
With wooing words and loving song
We'll chase the lagging hours along,
And if he finds the maiden coy,
We'll murmur forth decorous joy
In dreamy roundelays
....G&S, Pinafore

Beethoven liked Schiller's Ode to Joy, so put it to music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZJ1Tgf4JL8

Oh, they played that at our conference! It is one of my very favorites! Here is one of my favorite YouTubes of Beethoven's Ninth, conducted by Arturo Toscanini in 1948. What a conductor!

Annnnnd, going downscale a bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf-d-Ka30EY

And of course there is the well known Christmas carol, "Joy to the World." In that link, I thought it was interesting that Isaac Watts's (who wrote the words and lyrics) father was described as a "non-conformist" who was imprisioned twice. I wonder if "non-conformist" in the 1700s translates to "liberal" today.

For me - to find the first egg of the new season after a hard winter.

Bea

Oh, yes! That blue robin egg, for me.