Written by Cathleen Antoine-Abiala
Over the past few months, I’ve spent much of my downtime contemplating. Be it about the state of our country, the election, or the ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises around the world. I know I’m not alone in feeling persistently preoccupied. Within my contemplation, I’ve also found myself somewhat fixated on this emerging concept of joy in the political sphere. This prompted me to think about the work we do at True North EDI and how joy is positioned as essential to that work.
As TNEDI consultants, whenever we start a new partnership, we discuss our goals and share our values: illumination, grace, creativity, and joyful orientation. When those values were first articulated and then shared with me, I admit that I found “joyful orientation” challenging to imagine as part of our work, especially when it comes to addressing issues such as racism, sexism, and other harmful structures. I found it difficult to embrace my joy, particularly during challenging times, for fear of seeming fake or insensitive to the realities around me.
So, what does it mean to have a joyful orientation? In our time together as a team, we’ve sat down to think about what we mean when we use this language. I found writer Karen Wolrond’s distinction between joy and happiness especially helpful. She says:
“Happiness is a fleeting, pleasurable emotion caused by external circumstances….Joy, on the other hand, is something more profound and long-lasting. Often, joy finds itself rooted in much deeper things, like meaning and purpose. And joy can, paradoxically, arise directly out of sadness and pain and loss.” (1)