To Austria, with Joy

This is an excerpt from the weekly News-Loveletter. If you would like it sent to your inbox directly (with all the other juicy bits, including a mini joy practice), you can add yourself to my mailing list here.

Kerstin and I with Mia in black on a four hour tour.

The seed for my joyful European adventure was planted years ago while I laid in bed, unable to move without excruciating pain. “Come visit us in Austria,” my dear friend Kerstin urged. “It’s such a restorative place.” And she would know. Kerstin and her family have been returning to the same charming Alpen cottage for nearly twenty years.

I declined with sadness. I would have dearly loved to have visited Kerstin, but the timing just wasn’t right. Then Dr. Joe Dispenza’s work, combined with my own, transported me out of convalescence, and everything in my life began to change. Meditating daily allowed my heart and mind to open to wholeness, and flow. But that wasn’t enough. I needed to change my thought patterns to become as healthy and strong in my conscious life as I felt in my meditations. I spent the next 2 years clarifying practices, inspired by Dr. Joe’s work, neuroscience, and positive psychology. Using my background in behavior science, I broke these practices down into doable sub-practices and began to share them with what has become the Joy Collective.

Last year, curious about my work, Kerstin accepted my invitation to join the Core Alignment with Joy series. In her deep dive, she became my accountability partner. Daily, we shared how priming, reframing, and the momentum of positive thoughts gifted our well-being and relationships. Kerstin and I met in a literary analysis class 25 years ago. Her upper level degree in philosophy and her penchant for living joyfully make her a fantastic conversation partner in all topics around life, learning, and relationship. Together, we refined our practices of joy.

And then … this was the year. With jubilation, I accepted an invitation from Kerstin and her husband to join them at their home-away-from-home in the green rolling hills of Austria. Across four days we hiked, biked, and sampled the most glorious foods. In sunshine and in rain, we caught up and built even stronger connections than before. I enjoyed Kerstin’s canine and equine family, too. (I don’t speak a lot of German, but I’m fairly fluent in dog and horse.)

WhatsApp has been a saving grace for my golden, long-time friendship with Kerstin. But there is no substitute for being able to place a hand on your dear friend’s arm, to pass her a cup of tea, to watch her lovingly engage in all of her daily rhythms. I will cherish that week with my überfreunde forever. And forever, my friends, is longer than we know.

What friendships of yours have you found especially nourishing? What mountains and valleys you have climbed and descended into with them?