The Shape of Joy

Sit comfortably and bring to mind a moment of pure joy that has stayed with you. The day your child took their first steps. The morning a long illness finally lifted. A friend's wedding where everyone danced. The taste of mangoes in your grandmother's courtyard, the year the harvest was good. Let the moment grow vivid for a breath or two. Then, set the story aside, and stay only with the felt-quality of the joy itself, the warm bright spaciousness in the chest. That spaciousness was never about the event. The event only opened the door to something already in you.