Asya Barskaya-Lebed is a dear friend of mine and a very talented photographer, owner of ABL Photography. She has found her life’s mission in bringing joy into other people’s life by creating wonderful memories with her photography. Recently, I heard her speak on the topic of joy at a networking event. It was just what we all needed during these challenging times in our personal and professional lives so I have asked her to write a blog on this topic and she kindly agreed. Here is what she wrote:
The subject of joy has fascinated me all my life…
Joy is the most natural and simple emotion, yet not many people get to experience it. The best way to observe joy is by watching young children. They don’t need much to be joyful, just by being, by playing and doing simple things they naturally feel joyful. But somehow the ability to experience joy fades away as people grow older… Research shows that joy is one of the hardest emotions for adults to experience.
Here is the scale of vibrational frequency of different emotional states. Joy is very high up in this table, and the top emotions are the ones that are more difficult to reach.
It seems much easier for most adults to feel the emotions on the lower frequencies, like sadness, guilt etc. Many people almost feel guilty for being joyful.
Dr. Brene Brown, the vulnerability researcher, has completed many studies on joy. She believes that people are often scared to experience joy, because of the fear of that joy being taken away from them.
“Joy is the most vulnerable emotion we experience,” Brown says. “And if you cannot tolerate joy, what you do is you start dress rehearsing tragedy.”
Joy also has an incredibly positive effect on our health and wellbeing.
We feel joy in our bodies because of the release of dopamine and serotonin, two types of neurotransmitters in the brain. Both of these chemicals are heavily associated with happiness (in fact, people with clinical depression often have lower levels of serotonin).
Last year I had an amazing opportunity to take part in a book project that focuses on Joy and Abundance. You can read more about it here:
My story describes the journey that led me to discovering the joy of taking photographs and transformed my career path.
I am convinced that everyone is able to generate joy in their lives. We are like power plants. Power plants don’t have energy, they generate energy from other materials… Humans can generate joy using their thought process and engaging in activities that evoke joy. The great news is the more we focus on joy, the more joy we will attract into our lives.
I deeply believe that joy is contagious - when someone is experiencing a joyful state, it affects everyone around them in a positive way. Consciously seeking joy should be everyone’s responsibility & mission, as the more joy there is, the better this world will be.
If you would like to get a copy of the “Joy Recipes for Abundance Book”, you can order it here:
