Finding Joy

In dealing with the covid-19 pandemic, with enforced isolation and business shut-downs all around us, it’s easy to see the struggles over anything joyful. Optimist that I am, I’ve always been a firm believer in looking for the good in everything. Several years ago, when I worked as a Teacher’s Aid with middle and high school students, I remember hearing so much negativity coming from my students on a daily basis. I’m not discrediting any life situations they may have been going through that prompted such negativity, but I believed that if they would just intentionally look for something good in their day, they’d find it.

To experiment with my theory, I decided to buy a special container to fill with candy and I put it in my desk. Homeroom time was the last class of the day, so when they came in for that time, I was ready. I showed them this candy box, but explained that if they wanted to have some, they’d have to tell me three good things about their day. They rolled their eyes and groaned, complaining there wasn’t anything good about their day, but they also really, really wanted that candy. Coming up with good things that happened in their day took some thinking at first. Finally, one of them started with, “I had gym class today.” That’s a good thing. Another good thing, “They had pizza in the cafeteria for lunch today.” Very good! I like pizza, too! Finally, “We had a substitute in Social Studies today.” Smiling I said, Good job. I’m so proud of you! Now you can pick three pieces of candy.

The first week or so of having my five students think about positive things took a little prodding each day. But eventually, they were excited to come to homeroom, ready to tell me the good things that they noticed for the day. Sometimes it was as simple as, “The sun is shining today.” But the mere fact that they could look for and find something positive was huge in these students who previously only noticed the struggles and drudgery around them. After a few weeks, I started to notice their overall, general demeanor to be better. Not every day, of course. We all have bad days. But even in the bad days, it’s possible to find something good. And that’s all I wanted to impart to them.

This memory comes to mind as I just finished an hour-long Zoom session – a master class entitled, “Writing to Connect During Quarantine.” When we first introduced ourselves, the instructors asked us to mention one joy in our day or week, something that stood out to us. I mentioned how I heard from my son yesterday who I hadn’t heard from in a little while. That brightened my day for sure. A couple of students couldn’t think of a “joy” to share. As we closed up the zoom class, I remembered my middle and high school students from years ago. I wanted to encourage these students who couldn’t think of a joy to look just a little bit harder. Life sucks a little right now, sometimes a lot, but there are still good things all around us. We only have to open our eyes just a little bit wider in order to recognize them.