Essence of Type Seven – Joy
Imagine that we each come from one of nine lands, the land where the essential quality to which we are sensitive reigns supreme. For Sevens, this land is one of Joy.
Type Seven is called the “Enthusiast.” In their souls, Sevens are sensitive to the joy of Being. Above all, they want to live in a land of happiness, where the pleasure of existence is felt.
To enter Seven Land, imagine a Garden of Eden where every being is naturally happy, where there is a feeling of playful, light heartedness, there is no dissatisfaction and pleasure reigns. Your soul knows that you too are part of this perfect joy.
To understand the experience of Sevens in the world, imagine the “fall” from this Garden of joy, the impact of encountering unhappiness and misery everywhere, of being born into a world where there is so much suffering. For type Seven, expulsion from Paradise feels like being cast into a world of pain.
Understanding The Essence of Joy
To understand the quality of essential joy we need to distinguish it from our usual idea of happiness, which is quite conditional and dependent on our circumstances. There is a contingent quality to our ordinary sense of joy - it depends entirely on our situation. We experience happiness as resulting from certain events - and unhappiness as resulting from others. So, words like pleasure, joy and happiness describe a state that comes and goes, a feeling we seek, try to capture, and tend to experience as fleeting.
You have no doubt experienced many moments of pure joy or happiness in your life. We tend to have access to this joyful state in special situations, perhaps happy events like the birth of a baby or a wedding or during our peak life experiences. We may also feel bliss when we are very present in the moment, perhaps during meditation or in nature. So, we know this state of joy but usually find it to be short-lived. Something in us often shuts this feeling down quickly as if it is not safe or can’t be sustained. Or we may allow and enjoy the feeling of joy and cultivate it in our lives but still normally experience it as situational, coming and going. Of course, there is truth in our experience - life bring joys and sorrows.
There are so many books, articles, theories and studies about the psychology of happiness. How to be happy, how to live a happy life, is one of the main preoccupations in our culture. Even the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to pursue happiness. Note that it is the pursuit that is guaranteed - not happiness itself.
To get closer to the essence of joy we must consider what joy would be if it didn’t depend on anything situational or conditional - if it wasn’t something to be pursued externally or in the future, but just existed as an aspect of our Being. This is how Eckhart Tolle describes this joy:
“The joy of Being, which is the only true happiness, cannot come to you through any form, possession, achievement, person, or event - through anything that happens. That joy cannot come to you - ever. It emanates from the formless dimension within you, from consciousness itself and thus is one with who you are.”
To understand this unconditional joy that is part of who you are, an aspect of your consciousness, it’s best not to think about it - just see how you might experience it when present.
Try being present while you are doing an everyday simple task, for example taking a shower or washing dishes. Instead of checking out and wandering in your thoughts, stay with your sensations. Notice keenly the feel of the water, the sights, smells, sounds - being wet, feeling heat, seeing soap bubbles. When you focus this way can you notice a feeling of delight? You can also explore joy by putting on a beautiful piece of music, sitting in nature or doing something simple that makes you happy, like being with a child or patting your dog. Starting with something that makes you feel happy, you can become very attuned in the moment to the sensations, the pleasure and delight you feel. When you feel delight in the moment, you may notice that it is arising from within your own consciousness - the joy of being. Don’t chase this feeling or try to capture it or even name it, don’t worry if it is fleeting - just notice how being present affects you in this way.
It’s also possible to sense joy in movement or activity - dancing, chanting, singing, playing. Again, noticing that the joy arises within you and is an aspect of your Being.
Billy Collins poem “Aimless Love is” delightful and not long, definitely worth reading in full. This is how the poem ends:
After I carried the mouse by the tail
To a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
Gazing down affectionately at the soap,
So patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.
