Freudefreude
Freudefreude: Taking joy in someone else's joy.
“That is an incredibly powerful connection tool…that when you share something really exciting with me, I can celebrate that with you and I'm happy for you and I am joyful with you.” Brenee Brown
When my son and I go to the playground he gets very excited, I see him working himself up, getting himself ready for the experience. Then we arrive at the playground and it all changes. His excitement subsides and he goes through four very specific stages:
The first stage is his excitement disappears and he comes very concentrated, inwardly drawn and serious. He stands looking at the other children playing and running wild. There is nothing I can do to move him or distract him. Then all the sudden a change happens…
The second stage is he begins to allow the excitement of the other children come over him. He starts smiling really big, ponting, commenting on all that he children are going and proceeds to spend some time enjoy with them as the spectator. Watching him you can see his little body experiencing the joy. it’s contagious.
The third stage is him getting involved in the play. It’s almost as if the joy cultivated through watching ignites the joy within him, and that propels in forward. He begins to run around with the children, often seeking my approval, almost as to ensure I see the joy and share in it with him.
The forth stage is he becomes so overwhelmed with joy and pride that he is able to partake in this experience. This generally involves him running to me with the biggest smile I have ever seen and running back out to the kids. But what stands out of this stage is that as an observer you can tell he is seeking to share his joy through interaction, he gives it out, it’s no longer a singular experience he is feeling that is now within his body it is a feeling he now wants to share with the world.
that kind of joy is deeply internal, it is a flame that lives in all of us, and can be access by all of us when we ourselves find steps to help us come into that space deep inside where friendliness, compassion, joy, non attachment to pleasure of pain exists.
Join us in exploring the 4 keys to happiness: friendliness, compassion, joy and indifference to pain and pleasure alike as a mean to pursue mental equanimity.