Joy blooms only when we’re connected to our nature.
“Throw away the thought of how you might seem to others, and be content if you live the rest of your life in the manner that your nature wills. Observe then what it wills, and let nothing else distract you.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (VIII:1)
Everything else wants to distract me from following my nature, my own actual feelings in each present moment. It’s hard to resist the pressure of other people talk-talk-talking in our ears and on our screens all the time.
I’m trying to practice shutting the door in my mind to be able to hear and heed my own voice. It’s hard—but the more I do it, the more my life blooms into joy.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
— Shakespeare, Hamlet
It's wonderful how that inner nature changes over time, too. Each time we rediscover ourselves, our more experienced lens finds a new insight or interpretation of things we've known our whole lives.