I was talking to a friend. I shared the struggle in writing, including all the rewriting and editing.
After I shared it, she asked, “What brings you joy?”
I’m not sure if her question was related to what may have sounded burdensome. In the moment, I thought she was transitioning to something else, so I mentioned food. August means peaches and tomatoes are in season and, as usual, the combination of my volunteering and people who get free food not taking fresh food, means I get tons of free produce. It’s unbelievably delicious this time of year.
Later I looked back. Now I think her question was related to my talk about writing.
Yes, it’s work. I wish I could finish faster. I wish I could answer people succinctly when they ask what it’s about.
But working hard on something intrinsically rewarding is joyful. If she presumed because I struggle that I’m not enjoying the work, it seems to me like asking an actor preparing for role or athlete preparing for competition what brings them joy.
The preparation is joyful. It’s not like happy-party-fun joy, but it’s joyful.
Think of Michael Phelps preparing for the Olympics. How many laps do you think he swam? How do you think he would characterize that time? I bet joy wouldn’t be far from the mark. Or Springsteen preparing for a series of playing ten nights at the Meadowlands stadium just outside New York City.
I think of this scene from the movie When We Were Kings about Ali preparing to fight Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Yes, Ali must have been intimidated by the punching bag, but he could stop any time. Why do you think he didn’t?