Expand Your Horizons — Believe In Joy
“If your mind is empty, it is always
ready for anything; it is open to
everything. In the beginner’s mind
there are many possibilities; in the
expert’s mind there are few.”Shynryu Suzuki
I am in the midst of a mid-life crisis (okay — I wish 68 were mid-life but you know what I mean.)
I have become an absolute toy nut. I am collecting and photographing action figures. I am having so much fun it should be illegal. I collect the figures, build sets for them that resemble a movie set, and then photograph them. Most of my friends think I have lost my mind.
It seems that as humans, we can get into ruts that include narrowing our focus to the things we think we have to do, usually at the cost of the things we want to do. Why is that?
On paper, me and toys go together as well as a beauty queen being my prom date — or me GOING to a prom for that mater.
Despite the fact it doesn’t make sense on paper, it makes sense to me. I have found joy because I took off the blinders and decided to just let my inner younger person take over. And I am glad that I did.
I end every article I write on Medium with this phrase….
“Remember, toys are joy.”
But how does the average person get to the point where they can see that? For me, it took a serious change in my circumstances due to COVID, my job status and poor health along with all the stuff that goes with getting old and becoming irrelevant as far as the world is concerned. It should have come sooner and without all that.
The purpose of me writing this article is to try to help YOU avoid waiting so long to find YOUR joy.
I am no expert, but I do have some ideas. They come from my overall life philosophy of always trying to have a “beginner’s mind.” It’s a concept taught in Buddhism and I learned it when I was living in Japan.
By applying this concept to my work and my life, I have always benefited. But even though I know the concept and try to live by it, I still have room to grow here. So I thought about it for a while and started jotting down some ideas on HOW to do it. The following approaches have worked for me. Hopefully they will work for you.
1. Recognize that even though you may be an expert in one thing, it doesn’t mean you’re an expert at EVERYTHING. This requires us to put our ego away for a minute and for some it’s hard, but it must be done to have a beginner’s mind.
2. Experiment always. Learn from your mistakes. Correct them the next time around. Fail forward. No journey can be successful without some problem along the way.
3. Lead with your heart, not your mind.
4. Understand that your opinion of your circumstances should never guide your actions. Your circumstances are your circumstances. But your opinion can always change.
5. Look at what’s in front of you and realize it’s but a tiny speck in the universe. Imagine something bigger. Imagine something that has no boundaries. Yes Thor can indeed fight the monster from the movie Aliens even though those two fictional characters should never seem to be in the same movie. There are no rules unless you make them. Watch your kids play with toys to see how this works. (And be quiet while they are playing. Don’t talk to them or question them. Just observe.) This is the single most valuable thing you can do if you really want a beginner’s mind.
6. Fall in love with the thing you want to do regardless of whether or not it makes sense.
7. Try things that you have never tried before. Take risks. Go for it. Don’t talk yourself out of being creative because you’re worried about what someone else will think. Get off the couch.
CONCLUSION
If you are the kind of person who thinks they need permission to follow their dreams, consider this article your permission slip. Do what you love. It can’t be any sillier than an old man like me playing with children’s toys so do it. Do it now. Do it no matter who likes it or doesn’t. I am rooting for you.
Remember, toys are joy.
