“The Infinite is the source of joy!”
(Chandogya Upanishad 7.23)
There is a mighty rushing river of deep Joy at the center of all life. Oh yes, there is also a roller-coaster ride of pleasure and pain at the surface of human experience. Yet transcending this is a Joy that is the very effervescence of Life Itself. Deep Joy is an eternal quality of the Spirit. Dr. Roger Teel, https://gentleartofblessing.org/this-life-is-joy/
Isabelle Bourgeois has been a freelance journalist and activist for humanitarian causes for over 20 years looking to bring to her audience a more personal and more hopeful view of events. In a suffering world, Joy for the Planet aims to share the recipes of those who manage to live their joy on a daily basis, whatever the hardships and setbacks of everyday life. In a world with a lack of bearings, constant threats and omnipresent problems that cause anxiety, how can we remain confident and optimistic?
Isabelle believes that any being on this earth who manages to get reconnected with his inner joy contributes towards lightening up not only his/her personal story but also the fate of mankind in its entirety. For her, joy is life energy, and spreading joy has been her daily commitment long before her latest adventure, which began in January of 2018. The goal: aboard her camping car Bigoodee spend the entire year visiting as many European countries as possible to discover beauty beyond the shadows and to bring a little joy to those in need of a little boost. This adventure will culminate in a book and documentary.
Along the way Isabelle selected 52 individuals as “Nominee of Joy” and you can meet them all through short bilingual videos on her site https://joyfortheplanet.org/blog/nomines-de-joie/
Among these:
* Nicci, a young mother in Holland suffering from a serious cancer who talks of the importance to turn to love, starting for one’s self and to live the life we dreamed of.
* Joaquin Da Sa, in Portugal, who has been offering two warm meals every day for the past 30 years to the poorest in his city using his salary and some donations.
*and so many others: In Tuscany, a master painter and some members of the Damanhur community (cited by UNESCO as an exemplary eco-village); in Poland a six-year old girl who donated her hair to make wigs for cancer patients; in Macedonia, a group of young volunteers; in Estonia, an Israeli woman who shared her values of peace and respect for differences and works for unity and conflict resolution.
Among those who received a little boost along the journey, a moving account of an encounter with a homeless woman in Rumania https://joyfortheplanet.org/en/ma-lettre-a-minodora-sdf-a-sibiu-roumanie/
And her meeting with Sarah, a volunteer teacher in Bucarest who will teach her students how to make solar lamps with inexpensive kits provided by Isabelle to share with those in need. Not to forget Leila Tsani who at 82 is raising her autistic grandson in a tiny studio in Shumen, Bulgaria.
So, if one day your joy is at a low level, do spend a little time visiting
https://joyfortheplanet.org/
and your joy will return stronger than ever!
