joy

It’s hard to find joy sometimes. In a time when things are sort of in an upheaval, when it feels like the country, if not the world, is crumbling around us, we tend to take it all to heart and feel a daily dismay at the state of things.

But we have our little joys. Whether it be your favorite band, a movie you watch over and over again, a book you reread because it brings you such pleasure, a tv show or even a favorite food that brings you comfort, we all have these small pleasures that for a time bring us out of our current despair and make us smile or at a least feel a sense of peace.

I look for joy everywhere I go. This time of year, it’s in the trees, in their brilliant colors that make the entire world look like a fiery sunset. It’s in a hockey game, in my favorite songs, in seeing my friends succeed at what they do. I have to look for it, I have to find those things because if I don’t I’ll be wallowing in negative feelings forever. Your brain needs those bursts of joy. Your soul needs them.

What happens when you find that joy and someone tries to burst it on you? When people say being a sports fan is stupid, that you’re tool old to love Star Wars, that your favorite band is actually terrible? Do you take it to heart, do you get angry, or do you just ignore it?

If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you’ll come across the joy stealers with some frequency. I’m not talking about the people who just say something like “Limp Bizkit sucks” as you are extolling their virtues, but the people who go out of their way to try…