Joy comes from within

It's windy today. The wind is howling. And trees are dancing. But one particular tree drew my attention. The wind is playing with its branches in a peculiar way. It looks like a dancing couple. I see a man and a woman who dance to a song I can't hear, but I feel from inside. Odd, but beautiful. They move away from each other and then close, filling the gap that has opened between them. And the gap is gone. They are in each other's arms. Then they move away again, but this time when they come back together they kiss. They kiss passionately. I envy them a little, and also feel like a voyeur a little. But I just can't shift my gaze from this beautiful scenery before me. I take a sip of my tea. They move away again and then close to each other. They swing to the left then the man bend the woman to the right, stare in her eyes for a while and then pulls her back into his arms, he presses her tight against his chest as she is about to fade away, to disappear. And they stay in each other's arms. Mmm, that reminded me of my favourite song "Ain't nobody"- not the original but the version by Felix Jaehn and Jasmine Thompson. I adore this song and like the skater from the video because he looks a lot like my boyfriend. Hmmm. This tree is different. I love it. Most of all, I love how throughout the whole dance the couple stayed with holding hands - no matter how far the wind pulled them from each other they never let the other one. They remained connected. This scenery, as much real as it is imaginary, made my heart melt. A warm wonderful magical feeling rose in me. I call this feeling Joy.

A noise from behind drew my attention and I came back in reality. Someone arrived.

"Oh, hi there! I'm glad that you came", I greeted my guest. "Don't stand there. Come, come closer. Take a seat. Make yourself comfortable", I said walking towards the center of the room, then my guest sit down and I followed. We were sitting across from each other. Between us were a coffee table with different drinks and snacks.

"There are coffee, herbal tea, warm milk and hot cocoa which are accompanied by butter and chocolate croissants, butter biscuits, and three different types of cookies - with chocolate chips only, with chocolate chips and walnuts and with chocolate chips and hazelnuts. Pick up your favourites and enjoy the food and the drinks", I invited my guest with kind smile. I saw the amazed expression and read the question in my guest's eyes, so I hurried to explain " I'm more than well prepared. I agree. I didn't know you're coming if you wonder that. But I hoped you will. And you actually came. I really appreciate it. Thank you!"

Silence filled the room but it wasn't awkward one. I just gave my guest a few minutes to settle down, to take a bite or two and couple of sips of the drink and then I started talking again.

"You want to know what brings me joy right!? Right. Honestly, almost everything could bring me joy as long as it's positive, of course. I feel that wonderful feeling because of the nature, for one thing. The green sea outside the window, speaking of which... Do you mind if I'm not sitting but standing and walking in front of the window? No? No. Ok, thank you! So...where I was, oh, yeah. The green sea outside - the trees that wind makes dance now, each with its own rhythm, the grass, the bushes, all these shades of green. And the birds, in the sky or on the trees' branches, birds that are singing, and tweeting and talking in their own language. The swallows' peculiar fast flights that remind me of children playing all together and chasing each other. The sun when is shining, the clouds when it isn't. The rain and the rainbow afterwards. All of these is source of joy for me", I made a short pause, then continued.

"My family, friends, loved ones with their smiles, with the love in their eyes, with our inside jokes, laugh and laughters. Thе warmth they give me and that I need, because without it I could freeze even in hot summer day, when it's over 35 degrees Celsius outside. The time we spend together even from distance, every talk, every second together could bring me joy", I smiled.

"The music, the art, the writing and reading, watching movies and tv shows, and Youtube videos by my favourite youtubers and booktubers. This room and all in it that represent how blessed I am to have what I have. The food, the drinks, all of this makes me feel grateful and joyful", I said but a moment later my face darken a little bit. "But don't get me wrong. I'm not joyful all the time. There are moments when I struggle and it's either hard or impossible to recall the joy. And in moments like these I need help from outside to regain my joyfulness. For example, I hadn't been excited for reading a book since March. Yes, I read a bit, and I liked it. But I am talking about that ticklish feeling that you feel inside you that makes you eager to read more and more. The excitement because of which you start seeing the characters as they are actual people. You laugh with them (and sometimes at them), you cry with them, you get angry with or at them and experience all the emotions they do. I really really missed that living and breathing with characters that engages my mind and distracts me from reality, and brings so much joy in my everyday life. I couldn't feel the joy of reading so I started writing again - first poems then prose. But writing excites me in different ways. Nevertheless, if it wasn't for it, I wouldn't have found and been found by three girls, three other writers in Wattpad, that brought back reading joy to me. I'm so grateful to Queendom25 with her "Adelaide's Solace.(The Gold Digger's Trophy)", and LautheReader21 with her "Black Widow", and lillyqueeen with her "Abandoning Ally"! They not only cheered me up but they gave me a present without even know it. Because of them now I can enjoy being a reader again and I find other writers and their wonderful works", I paused again. Why? Because this is the moment my guest picks up the phone, opens Wattpad's app and finds the writers I was talking about. I wait patiently.

"Well that is over all. I could go on and on and on but I'm not Celine Dion's heart" I smiled and winked at my guest due to the reference I've just made. "You probably have other things to do. So you are free to go now."

My guest started picking up their things.

"But wait!", I said at the last moment. "I need to tell you one last thing before you go!"

I assured myself that my guest is all in ears and then said:

"I want you to remember something. Something really important. Life is full of joy. But to find it you need an open and filled with love heart. If you have it you'll find Joy in everyone and everything positive around you and you could even turn the negative into positive sometimes. Afterall Joy comes from within."

I finished and my guest walked out with wistful expression on their face, and mine beamed with Joy.