I’ve been asking Rabbi’s, Lamas, gurus and strangers for years, “What’s the source of joy? Is it our true nature? Is it a byproduct of spiritual connection?” Not everyone agrees on the matter. Here’s my deduction:

Joy is the experience of making contact with our Soul, our Higher Self. When we touch into our true nature, into our Divinity, then we move into Joy. Joy is not an emotion. It’s a virtue, a state of beingness. Joy is like the atmosphere—ever present. Happiness, and all other emotions, are like the weather patterns that move on top of joy.

We can feel Joy simultaneously with other emotional experiences. Its fragrance can appear during grief and confusion—the awareness that we’re spiritual beings in human form—greater than the pain.

With all of the suffering surfacing on the planet, I’ve struggled with my relationship with joy. And this notion from A Course In Miracles is aspirational for me, “Let my joy be my song of thanks.” And so our job is to stay aware of our Divinity (we will keep forgetting and remembering this), to relish the joy of that truth, and to use that joy in service to healing the collective.

Joy is a form of resilience.