Written by Tiffany Ann Lynch, trauma-informed somatic practitioner, mindfulness coach, and Sum Faht meditation teacher specializing in emotional healing, nervous system regulation, meditation, and Taoist healing practices.
Do you truly know what joy is?
For a long time, I wasn’t sure I did.
I used to think joy meant feeling happy, that it belonged to the easy moments, when life was going well. But joy doesn’t ask us to ignore the hard parts of life. It can exist alongside them.
Some of the people who make us laugh the hardest have also known the deepest sorrow. After walking through grief or heartbreak, they begin to see life through different eyes. A sunrise means more. A hug lingers longer. A child’s laughter reaches somewhere deeper. Even the quietest moments can feel sacred.
Maybe sadness doesn’t take away our capacity for joy. Maybe, sometimes, it expands it.
Finding Joy in the Ordinary
When I began asking myself what truly lights me up, I kept coming back to one thing: helping someone reconnect with themselves.
There’s a quiet fulfillment in watching someone soften and open up. In seeing their negative loops begin to disappear as they remember their purpose, their truth, and the parts of themselves they thought they’d lost.
That is joy for me.
It isn’t loud or performative. It doesn’t need applause. It’s a steady feeling that settles deep in my heart when I know I’ve helped someone.
And I find joy in simpler moments, too: playing with my cat or dog, laughing around the kitchen table during a family game, getting lost in a creative project, or settling in with a good book.
The more I pay attention, the more I realize joy was never something I had to chase. It was there in the moments that made me feel most connected to others, to life, and to myself.
And yet, joy is often misunderstood.
If you’ve ever read Power vs. Force by Dr. David Hawkins, you may remember that he describes love and joy as existing at some of the highest levels of consciousness. In his Map of Consciousness, joy is said to resonate at 540, a level associated with deep spiritual power and transformation.
At that level, joy is no longer dependent on circumstances. It does not rely on success, perfect conditions, or validation from other people. It becomes something much deeper: an inner state rooted in peace, truth, and alignment.
Many spiritual teachers speak of joy as a frequency that supports manifestation and higher awareness. When you are in a state of joy, you are more aligned with the natural flow of life. From that place, intuition becomes clearer. Mental resistance softens. Synchronicities appear. Doors open in ways the logical mind could never force.
This also suggests that people who embody this level of consciousness naturally carry a healing presence. They uplift others without trying. Their energy alone creates space for others to feel safer, lighter, and more connected. Life begins to feel less like an endless struggle and more like an unfolding experience guided by trust, compassion, and grace.
This is the kind of joy that does not deny sadness.
It is the kind of joy that has made peace with it.
And maybe that is the real invitation, not to avoid pain, but to allow it to deepen your capacity to love, to feel, and to recognize just how sacred it is to be alive.
The Difference Between Excitement and Joy
One of the most powerful shifts we can make is learning the difference between excitement and joy.
Excitement says, “I want more.”
Joy says, “This is enough.”
Excitement usually depends on something external to sustain it. Joy can meet you in the stillness. Excitement often comes with intensity, stimulation, and anticipation. But when it fades, it can leave you feeling depleted.
Just look at how easy it is to become hooked on stimulation: social media, achievement, entertainment, shopping, novelty, pleasure, constant activity. We can start mistaking that rush for joy, when really it is just the temporary high of feeling good.
But excitement fades as quickly as it arrives.
Joy leaves something deeper.
It leaves you with connection.
With wholeness.
With peace.
Maybe the goal is not to live in a constant state of joy. Maybe the goal is to become so present with ourselves that we no longer need to run from sadness. Maybe the invitation is to let it move through us, shape us, and soften us, so we can recognize the joy that has been here all along.
Real joy is not the absence of pain.
It is the presence of peace in the middle of it.
It is the willingness to stay connected to your heart through it all.
And maybe that is what joy has been trying to teach us all along.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to go deeper into the practices discussed, Tiffany Ann offers a free Ancient Wisdom Healing Workbook through My Zen Living.
To learn more about Tiffany Ann’s work in Traditional Chinese Medicine and somatic mindfulness, visit her She Owns Success Expert Profile.
