where can you find joy?

I remember when I was in college, during my first day as a new member of the dance troupe, when our choreographer arranged our positions for the dance, she asked what my name was. I told her it’s Cha. She moved her eyes thinking where to put me and called out “Joy! Dito ka”. Nobody moved. Then a guy dancemate whispered to me, “Cha, ikaw yun. Sunod ka na lang”. So I learned she has this habit of using other names if she feels like doing so.

Almost everybody from the group started calling me Joy, which I found difficult at first because they called me Joy anywhere they see me in campus Most of the time, they would call me and I wouldn’t look back. Not that I intentionally do it, I didn’t think it was me! It wasn’t easy to adapt to a new name that was very far from the real one. The point came when they decided to stop it but our choreographer never did. “Bagay sa iyo yung Joy. Masayahin ka eh”, she explained with a smile.

Joy. Joy. Joy. Many people can’t seem to find it. They were too focused on looking for bigger things. What if you’re in a place where everything has the same size? Will you die in disappointment and loneliness?

Can joy be found in having a special someone, in having lots of money, in getting promoted at work, in having so much increase in salary, etc? Does it always have to be something big?

Maybe it all depends on how one views what he sees and what he has.

In my case, I celebrated more when I saw my friends whom I haven’t seen for a long time than when I got promoted at work. In fact, I didn’t celebrate my promotion at all.

Joy for me is staying at home with my family watching movie and eating chips. It is staying in my brother’s room having some chitchat and laugh before going to bed at night. It is playing warcraft dota with my little sis. It is going to an orphanage and the children remembers your name even if it was just your second visit.

Joy is when you see the happiness in your friend’s face because you were able to watch her gig in north when you live in south and dead tired from work. It is having coffee with your friend for no reason at all but just because you want to spend time together.

Joy is getting soaked in the rain because your friend was laughing so hard he could barely walk to reach a covered place. It is when you get to hug someone so tight not because you’re romantically connected or your lonely, but because you just want to. It is being able to tell other people you love them and how much joy they have given you.

Simple things can bring so much joy. As a line from the movie says, “Maybe you’re looking, but not really seeing”.