The Joy Document is a wonderful book to encourage anyone about to hit middle-age (or already there) to think differently about getting older, rather than just ‘get on board’ with the same-old, same-old boring ideas that society encourage us to do (go shopping, try to stop wrinkles, go on a SAGA holiday etc). In fact, liberating yourself from the mainstream can set you on a path to do real good in your community, feel better and have a blast doing it too.
When the author asked her grandmother what her favourite age was, she answered (in her late 80s) that it had been 55. So in her own 55th year, Jennifer began to jot down simple everyday ideas of what she would like to do for the rest of her life. Things that mattered to her, and things she would enjoy. These included:
- Doing errands to deliver whole foods
- Baking a fruit cake recipe
- Taking a scary ride somewhere!
- Enjoying an evening picnic
- Listening to Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8
- Performing cartwheels on her driveway!
Once you hit 55, many people already have the better life, career and the children may have left home. So now you can spend the rest of your life living life on your own terms to your own values, having a great time, and not worrying about others telling you how to live your life. This can be from physical to spiritual. Hitting 50 can actually be a new beginning with new adventures. The book’s 50 essays explore the art of life joy, and inspire you to find the same.
In Sunday School, I had learned that the sky would open and Christ would return, just before he sent all the murderers and whoremongers directly through the earth to writhe in eternal agony. Then the righteous dead would be resurrected and sit at the right hand of God. At the time, I could not imagine anything more boring.
Here is what I know now. There are times in life when joy will sneak up on you, and catch you unaware. More often though, joy is harder to come by and you must go looking for it. Perhaps this book is a way of reclaiming what has been lost to me. This world is our church. Our hands form a steeple. Open the door and here we all are – so many beautiful people.
about the author
Jennifer McGaha is a writer whose work has appeared in many magazines. She also teaches at university, and co-ordinates the Great Smokies Writing Program.
With her beautiful storytelling, Jennifer inspires us to join her in creating a light-filled life, through curiosity, gratitude and celebration. She shows what it means to be a radiant rebel. Karen Walrond
