The Alertness of Joy

Could it just be that our joy is perhaps connected in some real way to our alertness?

Chronic sleep deprivation is said to be one of the worst known torture strategies; if we turned that on its head, then, what might the theory look like—something for joy, perhaps?

The theory here is the more physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually alert we are, the more inner joy (or wellbeing) we’ll experience. This is perhaps due to the fact that when we’re fully rested we have the fullest access to our faculties and we feel capable and empowered.

There is joy in alertness.

This is perhaps part of what the drug-dependent person is trying to mimic in their drug taking—that state of mindfulness that swims in euphoric wakefulness; the recapture of that purity of spirituality we all yearn for.

Can there be any better living state than full alertness?

This—at all levels, not just the physical—is an unencumbered outlook upon life. The brakes are released, and down life’s runway we accelerate.

We can very well ask the question, “How alert is our joy?” Or rather, “How joyful are we and does this have some relevant correlation with how alert we are?”

There is another way to look at this.

Joy as a ‘Function’ in Alertness

We can hopefully see that we’re potentially more joyful the more awake we feel.

And if we flipped that scenario we’d see something different. The alertness of joy springs forth a concept around maximisation. If the concept of alertness is seen as a metaphor for joyfulness then we can see that a ‘purity of (soul) rest’ might bring it.

This is most fundamentally something, for us, so intrinsically hidden in God, at the soul level—the self relating at bliss with the self, and hence with God—that the fullest extent of joy is known.

It is the alertness of joy... the highest potential for joy, realised by us.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.