<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Joy Is the Medicine</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">My habitual seriousness </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">demands: Isn’t life </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">a problem to be solved</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and full of pain and sorrow?</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Don’t we find ourselves </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">in a world of greed, corruption, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">war, and a dying planet,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">teetering on all</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the edges?</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It is so hard to</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">crack the code.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It is so easy to </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">lose hope for cures.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">But there is a medicine</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">given to us along with </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the pains of our small lives.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Its name is Joy.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It will not heal</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the ills that assail us, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">but it will feed </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">our hungry souls</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and salve </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">our aching hearts.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">You will never obtain</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">a prescription for Joy </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">from the medical establishment.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Only a soul doctor</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">can provide it, and</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">that one is only found</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">inside yourself.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 15px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The inner healer says –</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Yes, the world is falling,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">But the earth will always</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">renew itself in the end.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">You must grieve, but</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">there is also so much</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">to love.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">So, here is your prescription –</div>
<ul class="">
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Look at the sky every day.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Watch the birds, and the trees swaying in the wind.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Look at the faces of babies and children.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Hug someone.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Give gifts.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Plant a garden.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Love the land where you live.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""></span>Make your home beautiful.</li>
</ul><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The medicine called Joy</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">has another name -</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Love.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Heal into a full life,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">both in spite of </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and because of</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">everything.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Maya Spector</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>