It’s great being back at the Mansion regularly; there were a lot of interruptions this Spring. I’m meeting new people and getting back into the feel of things. It’s nice to feel I was missed, and Zinnia is making many new friends.

Today, we meditated and talked about the difference between joy and hope. I read from Henry Nouwen’s book, Here And Now. Nouwen says joy is quite different than optimism.

An optimist believes things will improve; the war will end, wounds will heal, and depression will fade.

(Above, a portrait of Ruth, who is getting the TV she needs)

But Joy, he wrote, doesn’t come from optimistic predictions. Joy is a spiritual thing, the idea that we are being looked over by forces more significant than we can see or even know. Some people call that God and some people look inward for the knowledge and tools necessary for them to take control of their lives.

Nouwen sees the discussion from a religious perspective: Jesus says, “In the world, you will have  troubles, but rejoice, I have overcome the world.”

The idea here is that God will take care of us.  Some of the people in my class agreed some didn’t.

Generally, we took a less religious view of it. I said I agree that optimists do think everything will turn out again.

I also agree that joy is a spiritual, not a literal, idea. Joy is a powerful feeling of love, meaning, and richness in life. Joy is in doing good for people who need help.  Joy is getting to know oneself and learning authenticity.

Joy is empathy.

Joy is getting a gifted refugee student into college.

Joy is finding a required love that lifts the heart and soul.

We all offered our ideas; we want to think about it and get back to it next week. It was one of our best discussions.

One of the meditation students mumbled that one of her neighbors was sometimes a “bitch,” I suggested this wasn’t in the spirit of “Joy Day.” Almost everyone laughed.

My idea for “Joy Day” is taking shape. I propose that we involve the families in a day devoted to their love and appreciation for the members of their family that live at the Mansion and that the residents do the same thing – focus on what has been good in their lives.

I’m excited about this, a day where we put aside life’s troubles, slights, and disappointments and concentrate on what is good.

Zinnia’s new friend, Lilly, a Mansion aide

Now that I am back at the Mansion regularly, the residents are returning to me for help getting things they need. I wrote the other day that one resident, Ruth – asked for help getting a TV; the last one I got her has stopped working.

I wrote that I didn’t have the funds for a new TV immediately but would keep saving money.

Two members of the Army of Goods offered right away to pay for a  TV. Angela contacted me first and said she would send a check. She did, it arrived today, and I ordered the TV, and it’s on the way to the Mansion.

I am grateful for them both. The second donor and I agreed there will be a next time.

Thank you, Angela; I got a good thanks for your generosity. Ruth is thrilled and also wanted you to know she is grateful. She watches TV a great deal. She was very upset without television.

Nancy asked for help in getting shorts for the summer. I ordered two, one blue and one green; they are coming. I had the money in the Mansion Fund to do that.

Last year, we bought two raised garden beds so the Memory Care residents could care for their vegetable plants without bending or lying down.

Today, the Mansion was able to get the beds set up – there were several delays – and Paryese asked me if I could get them some vegetable plants to put in the garden.

It’s getting late for vegetable plants, but my friend John Rieger at Country Power Products has a bunch still in his greenhouse; I’m heading out there to buy a dozen plants to bring to the Mansion today.

I have the funds to do that, also.

I’m grateful I’m back regularly at the Mansion and figuring out who needs what. It feels like a joy me. We are back in business.

If you can or wish to contribute, you can via Paypal, [email protected], or Venmo, Jon  Katz@Jon-Katz-13. Or by check, Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O.  Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thanks.