I don’t meditate. It’s a simple fact that often feels like a confession. After all, meditation is hailed as an almost magical cure in self-help circles, and the list of benefits it offers is undeniably impressive…
— from “Can’t seem to meditate? 7 joyful activities for you to try instead” by Ingrid Fetell Lee, on Ideas.TED.com, January 11, 2022.
Just like researcher and TED Talk celebrity Ingrid Fetell Lee, I don’t meditate. This is one of the few things we have in common, but it makes me feel almost like we’re soul mates.
Below is a photo of Ms. Lee lecturing about ‘joy’ on the TED stage in 2018, backed by photos of objects that people typically mention when asked what has brought an experience of joy into their lives. We note the practice known as meditation is not included among the illustrations. But pink flamingos are.
Ms. Lee researches, writes about, and talks about the human experience known as “joy”. In fact, she refers to herself, in one online lecture, as “The Nancy Drew of Joy.”
I would never refer to myself as “Nancy Drew” of anything at all. But she and I can still be soul mates, because we both find meditation unsatisfying. (I don’t recall Nancy Drew ever meditating. But I was more into the Hardy Boys. Who, incidentally, also didn’t meditate.)
Ms. Lee and I have both tried meditating, and we both ended up falling asleep. I have never personally met my soul mate, of course, and we have never attempted to mediate in the same room — but obviously, in both our cases, the room was too warm.
Another sense in which Ms. Lee and I are soulmates? In 2018, she published a successful book titled “Joyful”… and in 2022, I published a humor column titled “Joyful”. (You are reading it right now.) Whether my humor column will be as successful as her book, we’ll have to wait and see.
If you’re like the rest of us, dear reader, and you find it impossible to meditate without falling asleep… (do check the thermostat…) there are at least seven other ways to experience joy, and Ms. Lee enumerated them in an article she posted on the TED website.
Unfortunately, most of her recommended activities seemed unlikely to generate a feeling of ‘joy’ for me, personally. “Coloring in coloring books”, for example, was among her recommended activities, but that would never work for me. Maybe this activity brings joy to Ms. Lee, as she claims, but every soul mate relationship has its moments of disharmony. For me, a coloring book merely generates anxiety, because I can’t figure out if I should stay inside the lines, or let my artistic passions spill freely across the page.
But speaking of pages, Ms. Lee and I are totally on the same page where it concerns Bob Ross.
From her TED essay, quoted briefly at the beginning of this humor article:
7. Watching Bob Ross painting videos
And if you’re still struggling to find a way to calm your mind, maybe it’s time to turn to a soothing voice and his “happy little trees.” While it might sound far-fetched, a whole community of internet users have found peace and joy in vintage videos of Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting.
Some researchers believe that Ross’s soft baritone and the swishy sounds of his brush against the canvas trigger ASMR reactions, also known as “brain tingles.” The popular meditation app Calm has used Bob Ross’s voice in their Sleep Stories series, which is intended to help insomniac users fall asleep. You can watch every episode of his show on YouTube, and if you’re looking for one to get started, here’s a favorite episode.
I watched the linked Bob Ross video episode on YouTube and found it to be far superior to meditation, in terms of encouraging a restful afternoon nap.
I was also inspired to develop a list of six additional ways to cultivate joy… methods that my soul mate did not happen to include in her TED essay but which she would probably find as joy-producing as I probably would, based on my years of experience seeking joyful experiences.
My list of six particularly jubilant activities:
1. Reading humor articles in the Pagosa Daily Post.
2. Clipping your toenails while listening to Asian flute music.
3. Walking through the freezer section and finding that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is on sale, like you were hoping.
4. Taking out the trash before it starts to stink.
5. Finally locating that damn mosquito that was buzzing in your ear, and squashing it.
6. Making lists of silly but joyful activities that your soul mate might enjoy.
Although none of the above activities will come close to the joy of watching a Bob Ross painting video — nor can they hold a candle to watching Ingrid Fetell Lee deliver a TED Talk about the aesthetics of joy — they are definitely more pleasant that getting bitten by a rabid dog.
When we keep in mind that everything is relative, peace and joy can be waiting around every corner…
And waiting… And waiting…
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.