Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode.

As we come to the end of the first week of the year, let us take a moment to think about joy.

Let us take a moment to hold space for the times when joy has felt distant, and express gratitude for the times when joy has surrounded us.

As you take this moment to bring joy to the forefront of your mind, I want to share a poem

I wrote about hoping for joy in the hardest places.

My body laughed again, a poem by me.

I thought I was caving in.

Then my body laughed again.

Then it hummed a tune again.

For joy has surprised me in the middle of the wasteland with a chance

to live freely, despite all I do not know.

One of the most beautiful things in life is to know joy, and one of the most painful is to

know suffering. They are obviously without question

two completely different experiences, and yet they do have this one thing in common. They can both

feel unexplainable. There isn't a dictionary definition that can fully encompass someone's suffering. When you have been in that low place, there are no easy words. There is no easy way out of it. And I just hope you know there doesn't have to be. Because where there are no words, there is endless grace. Where there are no words, there is space for your heart to ease into joy no matter the moment.

And if you have found yourself in that place, I hope in time you can also know this to be true.

It's so hard to make sense of the loss, but the beautiful thing is that you

don't have to. You can breathe deep and take your time here, knowing that light is still running

through you. And because you have known great suffering, you have known what it means to lose,

and because you have known what it means to be in that kind of darkness, you have also learned what it means to truly appreciate the light.

You have learned what it means to truly encounter unexplainable joy.

Joy feels different to you.

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