To Finding Joy and Giving Kindness

Tl;dr - No 2024 recap, no 2025 resolutions. Just exercising my hope muscles for us to find joy, and give kindness.

Not so long ago, someone asked me what gave me ‘joy’. I was stumped like Sachin Tendulkar of a Mark Waugh wide in the ’96 ‘Wills World Cup’ [that’s how long ago I used to follow Cricket, I don’t anymore]. I don’t think I had ever thought about it like that. In response, I (probably) fumbled and I think I filled the space with some thing about reading (only partially true), and Zoey (100% true), and some other things that I no longer recall. But ever since then, I haven’t been able to shake it (that question and my lack of a response) off, like Taylor told us to do.

What does give me / or anyone ‘joy’? Obviously the answer varies for every one, but I am no closer to answering it for myself, even though I have had the last few months to reflect/think about this (and to think about the year, the last few years, my whole life, and more). I could go into a meandering, and even vacuous, rant about it, but that’s for my inner monologue.

Now, I know, around this time of year, it is normal to recap the year, or predict things and make loud declarations (aka resolutions) for the coming year. I don’t think I will do any of that. I will only hope, that in 2025, more of us are able to find out / get closer / do more of what gives us joy.

The other thing I have thought about a lot recently is kindness. And how easy it is for us to give, but something we do so rarely, or at least, not enough of. We rarely know what the person/people we are talking to are hiding under those smiles, frowns, blank expressions, unanswered texts/calls. In turn, they often don’t know what we’re covering up. But in recent candid conversations with friends, acquaintances, and colleagues, hearing about many of their hardships also hit me, well, hard.

So, while I am exercising my hope muscle, the other thing I hope for in 2025, is that all of us will give/practice more kindness [to others and ourselves]. (I’m not really a ‘karma’ believer, but logic dictates that if more people are being kind in more situations/interactions, then more people should also receive it).