The Interconnectedness of Joy...

I think that we often don't realize how much we can affect others or how they affect us. This brings to mind the fictional example of George Bailey in the movie It's a Wonderful Life. It took a terrible business tragedy to give George the opportunity to see the far reaching effects he had on others. And not just his family and friends, but even acquaintances and strangers, too. By the end of the movie, he learned how interconnected our lives are and how it's possible for each of us to bring joy to others without ever realizing it or knowing it.

I bring this example up because I have a friend who is going through an experience with some parallels to George's story of the interconnectedness and unseen joys of life. My friend is a writer and she recently completed a story that she's been working on for quite some time. She has no special motivation for writing other than it brings her joy. I don't think that she has any big aspirations for fame and fortune, but like most of us, if fortune came about as a result of her writing she'd gladly accept it. However, she's much too private to even entertain the idea of fame unless I guess she could have private fame! While writing this story has brought her joy, she spent several months toiling and agonizing over it as well. I had both the honor and pleasure to read the story while it was in progress, and being involved in the creative process brought me great joy!

She recently released the story for public consumption, and I think that she's been terribly surprised and overwhelmed by the public's response. You see my friend is a very talented writer and her story is terrific. And it seems that the lucky readers who found her story feel the same way! She has received an overwhelming number of positive responses to her writing with the theme being how truly delightful her story is. Because she has gotten so many wonderful responses to her work, I think my friend is a bit stunned. Perhaps it's because the response has far exceeded her expectations. I think she had no idea that so many people would find such joy because of her writing. But joy is exactly what they found, and now these readers are only too happy to tell her about their joy and thank her.

And guess what? There's been a boomerang effect with all this joy. She wrote this story really mostly to please herself, but a wonderful side effect occured - it pleased many, many other people, too! So once she began receiving all these wonderful letters, she began experiencing joy in a whole new way. And I have had the priviledge of her sharing both her shock and excitement to the overwhelming response to her story. Seeing how excited and shocked she is by all this brings me such joy and happiness for her once again!

So I think that, like George Bailey, my writer friend unintentionally discovered the interconnectedness of life which in this case resulted in far reaching pleasure and joy! Her original intent was to bring joy to herself with the small hope that others would find some pleasure too. The result was more than she ever hoped for. Her writing brought joy to many, many readers including me, and in turn they returned her joy in a kind of ripple effect. And on top of all that, I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to see her enjoying this wonderful time! So thank you, my friend, for sharing your joy with me!