Finding Joy

Hi there, I’m Charlie.

You may have heard my voice on the phone recently or maybe seen me around the office writing Wills and LPAs. The Boss has bravely let me loose on a blog, which will either be a success or a disaster. Let’s find out.

5 years ago

As a child of the 1990s, I grew up in a world dominated by Star Wars, Harry Potter, Disney and Pixar. When ‘Inside Out’ was released in 2015, I of course watched it almost straight away. 

The story line takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions (literally) that will have you crying both happy and sad tears at various points during the 94 minutes. And like every other Disney and Pixar film, even though it is a cartoon aimed at children, it will still teach everyone of us valuable life lessons.

The premise of the film, like all Pixar films, is simple. Each of us is controlled by 5 emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger. How these emotions interact and dominate each other can direct every decision in our lives.

When the film was released, I was 20 years old and still had no idea what I was going to with my life. Going through a whole rollercoaster of emotions of my own. 

Sadness

2020 has been a very strange year. With events that no-one could have imagined happening. Like every other event in our lives; each of us has reacted with a different emotion or mix of emotions. Possibly even being controlled by several different emotions during the course of a single day.

Where events have been cancelled, we have felt Sadness and/or Anger. When the infection and death rates were being released, we felt Fear. Seeing the prices of my financial advisor exams, I felt Disgust. The only emotion that has been missing for the majority of 2020 is Joy.

I know personally that I have lost Joy this year. Having postponed our Wedding for the 2nd time last week, I have been bouncing between Sadness, Anger and Disgust for a pretty long time. So far 2020 certainly hasn’t happened the way I planned and I haven’t felt much Joy in anything.

Re-discovering Joy

But, last night was a bit of a turning point for me. I rewatched ‘Inside Out’ for the first time in good while and it reminded me that all of our emotions are connected. That the best memories will have more than one emotion attached.

Birthdays are a mixture of Joy and Sadness as we realise we are one year older. Supporting your favourite sports team can make you feel Joy at winning, Disgust at losing and Anger at the ref when CLEARLY that was a penalty.

We have to understand that when an event makes us feel one emotion, it can lead to the next person feeling the complete opposite. Finding that time when we are all feeling the same emotions, whether it be Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust or Anger, it can lead to the best memories and bonds with friends and family that will last a lifetime.

I can honestly tell you that being back in the office has provided me with some Joy, stopped me sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. Thankfully, we all were able to work from home safely, and we didn’t have to furlough anyone.

Looking ahead

Hopefully as we move through the 2nd half of 2020, we can all find the Joy that we have lost. You never know where you will find it. I know I will be trying hard to find mine.

As Albus Dumbledore so eloquently said;

‘Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light’.  

If you have found Joy recently, please let me know. I love chatting to clients and sharing in their adventures. Being able to share in the Joy of our clients is one of the main reasons I joined the office.