Joyful Surprise

These last few years I have been learning to embrace joy in the midst of even difficult circumstances. It’s a deep feeling of wholeness, feeling grounded, pleasure that has little to do with happiness. I discovered that it is not just an accident, or a serendipity, but is often a choice. Even so, there are times when I've made that choice to live with joy, and still I experience a sudden greatly enhanced experience that seems to come from nowhere. This painting celebrates that amazingly wonderful occurrence.