Great post! You wrapped words around this idea a lot more succinctly than I did. Removing barriers so you can experience the existing joy is a good way of describing it.

I’ve also had similar experiences with depression, including the nasty thought loops which get between you and the rest of the world.

This kind of joy can be almost unbearably intense, and allowing gravity to work instead of running away from it can require giving up aspects of yourself that are really painful to let go of.

Oh my, yes.

Beautifully expressed. Out in my garden, it is impossible not to be overwhelmed with just how profoundly beautiful the world can be.

Before the depression, I never used to notice it (joy, happiness) at all.

This really resonates with my own experience, and not just for joy, although I’d never managed to express it so clearly to myself.

Thanks for this post

As someone emerging from what seems to be a seasonal worsening of major depressive disorder with psychotic features, I too am rediscovering that gravity pulls you in (like that book!) to joy. Joy hidden everywhere. Right now I’m on my computer, reading your blog and contemplating the internet and various pieces and comments I need to write. The weather is gorgeous, my window is wide open, and I’m clean and fresh from a relaxing cool shower. My mind is in an untangled place, the various barriers (as you mentioned) and knots hacked back away, at least for now.

Joy indeed.