What Building a “Perspective Timeline” Taught Me About Joy.

Taylor J. Bottles
3 min readApr 3, 2021

I have romanticized life for a long time now. Looking for some grand adventure or love that would give my life the meaning I’ve thought it was supposed to have. Now being alone and without the love of someone close or living in the midst of some great chapter, I find myself contemplating when living life became a drug to me, and stopped being a sustainable happiness.

I’ve hurt and been hurt in love. The healing process for both have lasted longer than I would have liked (but you cannot put a time requirement on healing). The pursuit of a life so glamorous has led me to being alone again, but this time not looking for adventure, looking for purpose. Looking for joy. A joy that I’ve never had simply on my own. Its always been dependent on someone else or somewhere else.

That’s my journey right now.

I’ve discovered that joy can be found in the small things. In the everyday. In what is present with you. In what you have. Not what you have not.

Joy is not something you find. It is something you realize.

I know this is a commom tale. Many of us growing up looking for that missing piece that will make us happy. More so we are conditioned to think that some outside element will bring us the joy we think we are supposed to have. That calling. Career. Partner. Etc.

But, was anything ever missing?

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