A friend of mine reminded me of a kind of joy that I hadn't considered yet; the kind that can't be seen (or photographed) or heard or touched or smelled. I gave a presentation yesterday afternoon and went home afterward feeling very powerful and pleased with myself (yeah, joyful). I thought that the presentation had gone well, I had informed the group to whom I presented about a topic of which they had little previous knowledge and (this is the best part) had sparked interest in them about a something that I find fascinating. The comment I made to my friend about it was something like, "There are not very many situations in which I feel the confidence of having more knowledge of something than my audience." But there's even more to it than that. The joy isn't so much in thinking that I know more than someone else (although I do admit that that is nice sometimes and it certainly gives me confidence when I'm presenting or teaching) but in sharing it with an interested and appreciative audience. And now that I think about it, there are some other occasions on which I feel that kind of joy. I feel it when I teach library instruction. I love the moment when I see the understanding dawn on someone's face. I also feel it in group exercise classes and used to feel it in dance classes, even when I'm not the instructor, the feeling that I'm good at something and am setting an example for others.

Everyday joy

Everyday joy is just as important (maybe more important) than the big joys. This is one of my everyday joys...http://www.dailykitten.com/.

Smells like fall!

I hadn't really thought about joyful smells (well except for the cats!) until this morning when I walked outside and smelled fall in the air. At least this is what fall smells like in Corpus Christi. It also reminded me of summer in Vermont where we used to go visit my grandma every year and where I still go to visit my parents. It's hard to describe on the level of an experience because my intellect keeps wanting to take over and say scientific things like, well, the humidity is down and the temperature has dropped (however briefly) into 70's, but I'll try: it smells (and looks) crisp and clean and green. There's a hint of damp earth too (like when you turn over a new flower or vegetable bed), and, now that I think of it, a bit of that nice, composty smell. Maybe its a combination of feel and smell now that I think about it because the (relatively) lower temperatures and the low humidity DO really make it lovely to be outdoors!

Also:

• Dancing


• Pachelbel's Cannon in D


• Rainy days


• The kids next door


• Learning

Things that bring me joy

One thing I've been thinking this week is that at some level (unconscious, subconscious) I've always thought of joy as being a strong emotion, stronger, or maybe deeper, than happiness, delight, well-being, success but that doesn't seem to be the accepted definition. When I first thought about joy for this assignment, my reaction was 'Wow, joy is pretty special [thinking strong] feeling that I don't achieve very often. How will I think of things to photograph? They'll have to be very special photographs.' After thinking about the accepted definition of joy, I've adjusted my personal definition of it a bit. But I am still troubled by the question of if someone else looks at the picture, how can they tell that it represents a source of joy to me if I don't tell them?

Despite my wonderful "Questions to reflect on" from my earlier post, I've been more focused on the definition of joy this week. And I keep meaning to look it up in the OED at work and just haven't gotten around to it. But I have been thinking about the definitions I've already found. The MW describes it variously as an emotion, a state of being (what's the difference?), and/or the cause or source of the emotion or state of being. Under those rules, my last post about my cats makes them the source of my emotion. Ok, I can work with that but it leads to wonder:

do cats feel joy (or emotions of any kind?) I think they do. Even though I anthropomorphize them often (more than I should I suspect), I think that purring is one way that they communicate joy (particularly in the sense of well-being).

if cats do feel joy, what is the source of their joy? I'd like to think I was but I do wonder whether anyone with a warm lap and a soft touch behind their ears would give them equal joy (once the cats got used to them). This lead me to

can a picture of my cats (a representation of the source of my joy) also be a source of joy for me? the same source?
Maybe that's why we consider some photographs art and some not (or less so). The good, artistic photographs are the ones that either (a) evoke an emotion, joy for instance, in the viewer and/or (b) communicate the photographer's joy.

The usefulness of photos

I was thinking of things that I could take a picture of that bring me joy. One of my first thoughts was of my cats. But the more I think about it, the more I began to question the usefulness of trying to photograph things that bring me joy because it's not just seeing the cat that brings me joy.

For one thing, it's hearing them purr. When Pauline purrs you can hear her across the room and she'll purr for just about anyone but Virginia only purrs for me and, very rarely for Tommy or anyone else and when Isaac purrs you can't really hear it at all but you can feel it in your fingertips. Still on the topic of sounds, they all "talk" in different voices and for different reasons. Pauline's voice is a chirp and she talks all the time. Sometimes makes a very soft, almost silent chirp when she wants to be snuggled. Virginia's voice is very strident and she only speaks when she wants something (usually to be fed, allowed to go outside, or brushed) and is very insistent. Isaac hardly talks at all and when he does it's in a very soft, tentative voice which is very interesting because there is really nothing tentative about Isaac!

And it's not just sounds. All three of them are different in the way they feel too. Virginia is solid and chunky and has moderately silky fur while Pauline is much more frail feeling and has very silky fur and Isaac's fur is shorter and thicker than either of the girls'. I also love the way they smell, always have. The cat smell has always been a very comforting smell to me. I used to think that was just the way cats smelled (as opposed to the way dogs smell or fish or birds smell) and I just recently figured out that it's their food that makes them smell the way they do. BUT, while the smell of their food reminds me of them, it's only the way my cats themselves smell that brings me joy.

Which brings me back to my question: how can you convey all of that in a photograph? At the moment, I don't think you can. At least, a photo of one of my cats would convey all of that to me but it might convey something completely different to a researcher who didn't have the context of what I've just written. So how can photographs be useful data in a qualitative research study where the purpose is to elicit rich, detailed data about the participant's experience?

Initial thoughts

Ode to Joy
http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/audio/BEETHOVEN%20Symphony%20No%209%20Ode%20to%20Joy.mp3
http://www.wwnorton.com/classical/covers/46533.htm
Jesu Joy of Man's Desire
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/mediaplayer.asp?ean=724356701427&disc=1&track=2http://www.harphawaii.com/audio/Pumehana%20Davis%20-%20Jesu%20Joy%20of%20Mans%20Desire.mp3
http://www.harphawaii.com/audio/Pumehana%20Davis%20-%20Jesu%20Joy%20of%20Mans%20Desire.mp3

A Google Image search for Joy resulted in 916,000 images.

The Wikipedia definition: an emotion of great happiness. Can also be a proper name for people, places, literature, and music.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines joy as 1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : DELIGHT b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : GAIETY
2 : a state of happiness or felicity : BLISS
3 : a source or cause of delight

and gives it's Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudEre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gEthein to rejoice

Questions to reflect on:

• How do people display and/or communication joy?



• Can other living beings display or communicate joy? If so, how?



• If joy can be a "source or cause of delight", what forms can those sources take?



• Is joy in the eye (ear?) of the beholder (experiencer?)



• Can joy be shared? How?



• Does joy (or the source of joy) have to be tangible? If not are there reflections of it or other symbols to represent it? Are they shared or individual?
  

Qualitative Research and Joy

The purpose of this blog is to creatively fulfill an assignment for CNEP6384 Qualitative Research Methods (Fall 2006, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi). I'm taking this class to fulfill the research methods requirements of my doctoral degree in Library and Information Science (Texas Woman's University). Since I work at the library at TAMUCC and travel to Denton for many of my classes it's a nice change (not to mention cost effective!) to take some classes at TAMUCC.

The assignment:

"During the furst month of school, take at least 6-8 photographs for a visual qualitative research project entitled "Joy." Photos will be presented and analyzed in class."

and

"Keep a reflective journal from August 28 through November 13 making at least one entry each week on the subject of "Joy." Journal will be used in learning qualitative document analysis."