I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

I have a banner that hangs in one of my front windows, so it's one of the first things you see when you visit my house.

The banner reads, Joy is an act of resistance.

It's a line from a poem by Toy Dericott, and a line I find myself quoting and thinking about, weekly, if not daily.

What I didn't expect was that this banner would become a conversation starter.

I'm sure plenty of people have noticed it and wondered about it,

but some have actually asked. Because my house is a hundred years old, there's a steady stream

of contractors coming through, plumbers, electricians, handy men and handy women. A few years ago, an electrician

eyed the banner and said, Joy is an act of resistance. What does that mean? I was thrilled

that he asked. We stood in my front yard and talked about the importance of holding

tightly to joy even in difficult times, maybe especially in difficult times. When forces are

conspiring to make you feel small and helpless,

to make you feel like your one life doesn't matter,

the thing you can control is how you move through the world.

I want to move through the world with a sense of gratitude for my life,

and I want to feel as alive as possible.

When the world is on fire, it can feel frivolous to go dancing, to go to concerts, to host

parties, to take vacations. How can we be experiencing joy when so many others are suffering?

How can we be spending our time and energy on pleasure when there is so much pain in the world?

I don't think it's either or. We can call our representatives. We can protest. We can volunteer or

donate to causes we believe in. And we can enjoy our lives and refuse to become cynical or

despairing or just plain numb.

...