THE JOY DECISION
Rhapsodies for the Afflicted
is a sentient, conscious collection of short fiction stories spanning time, space and possibility. Intricately threaded through each story is an exploration of the nature of joy, and our decisions towards, or away from it’s experience.
“The infinite, that something, seemed more than willing to offer growth, and as it can create stars and valleys and simple little grasshoppers, he thought it best to trust it’s blessings and follies.”
~ From An Aching Divinity (Story Two).
The Story of The Story (going meta)
Late in 2019, I signed up for a writing course with the plans of writing a completely factual, axiomatic, purpose-driven book about joy. As often happens, I was one day struck with a tiny phrase, a morsel of words strung together with such potency I decided to devote myself to this as not just the title, but the exploration.
The Joy Decision.
What happened within the majesty of that container, was the direct collision of writing non-fiction, and the nebular, inciting magic of joy living beyond logic.
The more I explored this vastly intangible thing, the more I found imagination to be crucial to the experience.
As I pored through my notes, fragments of thoughts on paper and a non-fiction novel that appeared 80% complete (yet, perhaps had not delivered it’s promise) The Joy Decision tended me toward the metaphors that sprawled themselves across chapters.
Here, I realised, lived true joy. In the wild, unfettered depths of consciousness. Beyond reason. Beyond logic.
I submitted to this, to imagination being the divine essence of joy, and honoured those metaphors as stories, standing alone- something my conscious mind would never have approved of, I mean, short stories are not really for novels, are they?
As the stories revealed themselves, so did the title
The stories were darker, bound with the ache of real life and in service to the full spectrum of emotion. They promised nothing of my non-fiction book. There was no ‘do this and you’re life will be brilliant’. No pillars, no lessons, no signposts to a life fulfilled.
But they were conscious. Each story beckoning me deeper, each stanza sparking wild curiosity. The book, cast me aside and pulsed itself to life.
Somewhere in this, lived Joy.
Always, my vision for this book was to cultivate deep connection and a richer sense of presence within the world. In honouring this, I encourage you to visit your local book store when purchasing The Joy Decision, nourishing the very part of yourself that longs for communion.
The world is wild, and for some I know the internet may be a sanctuary. If you prefer to buy online you’ll also find Joy in these places;
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“He’d reach his hand to the night sky, heavy fingers scraping the curtain of black as the ship would sternly shift it’s gaze to a new course. He’d sleep, still, upon the deck, each nerve saturated in the air of the sea, a complex set of spindles each tingling and fizzing with every detail.”
~ From When the Wizard Dies (Story Six).
