I took a break from packing/freaking out about traveling this weekend and next week, and went to Rosh Hashanah services with my grandfather tonight. I hadn't been to my synagogue since I went away to Boston, and I was definitely curious to see if anything had changed and to run into the temple regulars I enjoy. I didn't realize there was a new junior rabbi, a younger woman, along with the senior rabbi, a man that my family doesn't have a very positive outlook on. The new rabbi gave tonight's sermon. I was prepared to scoff at it. For background, I'm what I call an agnostic Jew. I'm culturally Jewish, see being Jewish as more of an ethnicity than a religion, and have a relatively skeptical view of religion these days. That being said, I was very active in my synagogue's religious school and youth group before I graduated high school, and used to have more respect for a lot of it. I'm unsure of how I view spirituality, religion, and its accompanying views and outlooks these days, and maybe I went to services tonight to get a new perspective on it.
The sermon the new rabbi gave talked about joy as it related to Rosh Hashanah--the Jewish New Year (its 5768 this year), and to Judaism overall. Judaism can often get a bad rap, for having disciples who point of the negative in life more often than the positive. She referred to the two types of Jews that exist as Oy Jews and Joy Jews--those who see more of the negative, or those who seek to see the positive. She and other rabbis and researchers see joy in life not as a condition, but as a practice: being joyous is a conscious decision, and requires attention to your own behavior, soul, and outlook on your surroundings. Being joyous is a tenet of Judaism, according to her studies--as Jews we are to take in all of the good things in our lives that G-d has given us and rejoice in them! As stated in the Shulchan Aruch (46:3), Laws of Blessings dictate that all Jews are to seek out at least 100 things to bless in their lives every day. Sounds like a lot, but just making the effort to find that many things to be positive about can change the lens through which you see life.
This past year has been a stressful one for me, my family, and a lot of my friends. Sometimes, its easy to forget all the good things we have and to just focus on worrying or fixing all the issues. For years, I have actually kept a notebook of what I call "the happy list"--things that just make me smile. Some of my friends in high school keep one as well, and I kept an online list with some college girl friends too. I definitely let the list fall by the wayside this year though--I've been busy, stressed, traveling, focused on a million worrisome things. Maybe all I really needed was to stop and (cliche drumroll...) count my blessings. There are so many tiny things that can lift my spirits, and they can help me forget whatever is bothering me: ten minutes at the reflecting pool in Boston calms me down, and my dog jumping on my bed while I pack helps me feel less stressed. As I get ready to leave from a month at home for a few days in Florida, a day back home, two days in Boston, and then three months in London, I need a way to ground myself. I want to start making sure I notice all the blessings in my life. There are thousands of wonderful things around me to balance out whatever truly minimal problems I have in my pretty charmed little existence.
I want to challenge myself, and the people around me, to be Joy people, not Oy people, and make all the blessings a bigger part of our lives.
Inaugural "blog" blessing list for today:
-the perfect fall weather!
-being spoiled enough to have my little brother take me for errands in his convertible in the gorgeous weather
-that packing is so hard only because i have so much pretty clothing
-the chance to take a break from my usual frenetic life at school and relax at home for a month
-sitting outside reading a trashy novel on my porch
-a delicious lunch at Aladdin's with a high school friend
-reading through old yearbooks
-that I get to see some of my cousins and their adorable kids this weekend
-apples and honey with my mom to celebrate the new year when she got home
-how excited i am to see as many of my Boston friends as possible in the 50 hours in the city
-all the cute pictures from Geneva everyone keeps posting!
-that the reason for going to Florida this weekend is my grandma's 91st birthday
-going to services tonight with my grandfather
-keeping in touch with people i care about--emails, phonecalls, IMs
-my cozy bed that's calling to me...
My aunt Camille used to refer to Joy as "Jesus, Others, and Yourself." She was one of the most religious and spiritually inspiring people I have ever known. She loved with so much of her heart that growing up sometimes it was uncomfortable to be around someone who loved that wholly, that much. She saw the good in the world, strove for it, acted on it, and encouraged it. Her funeral was one of the most vivid experiences of my late adolescent life and a time when my family, extended cousins and such, truly reconnected.
ReplyDeleteI'm restarting the Happy List as a blogspot blog. I think we can make it so we can all sign in? Yeah. Love you, miss you, can't wait to see you and share stories with you being up late at night. I think should should sleep at my place, not Sam's. But that's just me being selfish. <33