04/03/2026
Feeling blessed & joyful!
Just finished reading Kate Bowler new book, Joyful, Anyway. It was an excellent read filled with vulnerable sharing, potent insights, and several laughs. I managed to read about 80 percent of her book before attending her talk in Toronto tonight and to finish the rest before turning into night.
What made the night more joyful personally was attending the event with a crew of friends from my own faith communities.
Joy is a concept I have long been hesitant to claim because my mood is consistently low. Thanks to Kate Bowler and the ways she enumerated what joy is and how it is distinguished from happiness, I am much more comfortable claiming joy.
One big takeaway from both the book and the talk is that play is a great cultivator of joy. My cat Salem's playfulness constantly brings me joy; my taijiquan practice brings me joy when playing with forms and applications; playing with loved ones in the form of quality time, verbal play, and shared presence brings me joy and a reminder I need to spend more quality time with others than I do at present.
Thank you Kate Bowler and the crew who joined me from Dublin Street United Church I highly recommend giving this book a read ASAP for a timely dose of joy.
