Abundance: lushness, multiplicity, and variety
I have been paying close attention to when I feel JOY as I have been writing in my #JOYfinding journal.
Who am I with when I feel JOY?
What places are allowing JOY to emerge?
What things in my home bring me JOY?
What activities increase my JOY?
- The design aesthetic of abundance inspires those around you and invites others into JOY.
“We say, ‘My cup runneth over.’ And this is very much how it feels to be in a moment of JOY, when our delight is so abundant it feels like it can’t be contained by the boundaries of our bodies” (page 43).
My family knows that at any given moment I might let out a very distinctive shout of jubilee. This is not frustrating in general, unless it is not expected and is SO loud it scares them to death. This is a good depiction of JOY that can no longer be contained by my body and has to be let out! And, it usually leads to a good laugh and an opportunity to spread JOY to others.
The design aesthetic of abundance can buoy and lift the spirits of those around you and lead to JOY versus the pursuit of perfection.
Why exactly is this?
Ingrid says is best: “That’s because abundance isn’t about just accumulating things. It’s about surrounding yourself with a rich palette of textures that enliven your senses.” (page 59) And, it is always about sharing what you have with others for greater impact which is a high value we have on the ChangeMakers for Impact network.
- The design aesthetic of abundance is more about our need for variety than accumulation.
“Exposure to an abundance of sensations is not only pleasurable; its vital to healthy neural development” (page 51).
When we think about educators in a classroom with students or leaders in their organization or business, variety is essential to cultivating JOY. We tend to focus the most on routines, processes, and procedures, which are all critical. Hey – I happen to love predictable routines and they often serve us well.
However, utilizing the ChangeMaker Mindset™ of Embrace Exploration actually leads us down a path toward possibility and discovery so we can embrace variety.
The variety in our life, if we allow it, can lead to greater JOY.
- Abundance embraces multiplicity leading to impact versus using a scarcity mentality.
This chapter really challenged my thinking on how abundance can be viewed at times. Anyone who knows me well, understands that stewardship is very important to me.
I want to encourage others to live and design in ways that Create Win/Win Solutions and where multiplicity and abundance leads to sharing, serving, and greater impact.
I was first introduced to this mindset years ago by Stephen Covey when he coined the term abundance mentality or abundance mindset in his 1989 best-seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He defined the term simply as ”a concept in which a person believes there are enough resources and success to share with others.”
“Choosing abundance is not a moral failing. It’s an expression of deep, human delight. It’s an acknowledgement that we are here to do more than eke out an existence between birth and death and chores. We are here, as Diane Ackerman writes, to live not just the length of our lives, but the width of them as well” (page 72).
Imagine what it would look like if students learned the importance of living their life abundantly in order to bless and give back to others. Imagine what our classrooms and workplaces would look like if everyone embraced this kind of thinking.
So I will leave you with this to ponder…
How can you incorporate these new ways of thinking about abundance into your life and workplace to produce more JOY for yourself and others?
“Abundance.” Joyful: the Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, by Ingrid Fetell Lee, Little, Brown Spark, 2018, pp. 42–72.
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