Power of Joy
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is
obliged to stick to what’s probable. Truth isn’t.”
Mark Twain


In the summer of 2010 the BBC launched a three episode mini-series called “Sherlock”. It tells the story of Sherlock Holmes in modern day. After a 17-month hiatus, it debuted a second season, also consisting of three episodes.

I cannot describe in words how much I love this show, or what a major event it was in my life when it finally (finally!) aired new episodes. I was physically shaking with adrenaline, and could barely sit still through the first episode. I share this not as an endorsement or recommendation of the show, but because of a thought I had while witnessing my rather dramatic reaction: do I want to be more excited about a TV show than about my daily life?

My life is narrated by my thoughts and emotions about reality, which makes for a rather intense subject matter. Add to this the unpredictability of each moment, the changing cast of characters (and the dramatic interactions with those characters), the frankly unbelievable twists, and the fact that it’s all about Me, well, how could I not be quivering with excitement at the prospect of each new day?

For the first three weeks of January Sherlock aired new episodes. For each of those weeks, I compared my enthusiasm about the day with my enthusiasm for the upcoming episode. If I found my thoughts drifting to the show, I brought them (with all the attendant excitement) to what I was doing. I made no attempt to direct events in a particular direction, just to be interested in them.

As an exercise, imagine your life is a story. Suppose what creates the story is not a series of events, but your level of interest in it. Think of something in your life you really enjoy and notice how excited you are about it. Entertain the possibility that you were excited first, and this event in your life arose spontaneously as a mirror of your natural enthusiasm. What happens when you consciously choose to be enthusiastic about a day, regardless of what you imagine might happen in it?

What I discovered in addressing each day as an exciting adventure in which I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, was that the stories told became much more interesting.

It was like turning up the colors of my life. Experiences became more vibrant, and I discovered just how much I truly enjoy the vast majority of what I do in a day. In fact, the more interested I was, the more enjoyable the activities – including ones like cleaning the bathroom or preparing my tax records – became.

All of this came out of a resolve not to let a TV show be more exciting than my life. I’m still very enthusiastic about this particular show, but nothing in it can compare to the excitement of knowing that I get to be an active player in a never before told story this very moment, and anything is possible.