The Conundrum of Joy

I write about joy a lot (including when I needed to work to reclaim it after surviving a hit-and-run while Traveling at the Speed of Bike last July).

I try to keep my advocacy work, and my life, joy-centered*. I even created a joy-based outdoor advertising campaign this past holiday season (pictured above and below).

However, over time I’ve learned that although joy can be an act of resistance, it can also be a sign of privilege when you’re not weighed down with the same systemic worries as others. It can seem tone-deaf if presented out of context, or while headline news and others’ lived reality is undeniably, unacceptably horrid.

Stripping joy from social media communications (as I have felt the need to do, specifically on Twitter), however, strips the very essence from why people fall in love with bike riding (and the number one way to invite new people along), and from who I am as a multifaceted person. And thus, a conundrum.

I have more to say about this, but not today. Today, I just want to share with you this bike ride I took in Atlanta recently. Its humanity. Perseverance. Joy. I shared it a couple of weeks ago but I keep watching it everyday and realize I’m not done with it yet. And we’re not done making joy accessible to all.

You deserve joy. Everyone does.

*I also keep taking Leaps of Faith, and look forward to the day when riding a bike doesn’t require it.