Botanical Gardens Landscapes
Joy Conditioning
after Wendy Suzuki
The next time you lie in bed thinking of
the one thing you said wrong, remember
also everything else you said right.
Remember the burst of a fresh strawberry
at the edge of summer's beginning. Feel
the red juice coat your mouth. You might
even remember last week's call with your
mother when she said I'm so proud of you,
or the one friend who said I love your poem.
We are malleable, impacted, trained by the
terrible recurring thought just as we are by
the repetition of kindness. So do this in
your next joyful moment— take pause
pay attention to the constellation of light
shining singularly into your life. Let this
memory embed itself into your body as a
fiber of truth you return to when all alone
and full of self-doubt, even if the voices
won’t quiet entirely, even if all you have
to hold on to is this one twitch of joy
announcing itself as a reminder of your
inherent goodness.
