Hello,
“You have to find joy where you can.”
Joe and I had been watching goldfinches on the teasel plants, swaying on the seed heads as they searched for food. He was sharing snippets from his recovery reading, today’s theme was ‘Faith, Hope, and Joy’. Behind us, our Christmas stall was looking festive and inviting (please do visit), and undeniably joyful.
Faith and Hope feel tangible and relevant at LandWorks, but I found myself worrying about Joy, or perhaps my own ability about recognising it. And helpfully, I had a song lyric stuck in my head: “You have to find joy where you can.”
So, I set off to talk to everyone at LandWorks about Joy.
Turns out, there’s quite a lot of it about, if you look.
Beth said, “Now I find joy in nature, in the garden, and I’ve started to notice things.”
Rob has found joy too, though he says it took time, as he slowly moved away from drugs.
Pete… well, Pete just wanted to tell me about a previous girlfriend called Joy.
Joe said, “Every day that I’m clean, I feel joy.”
Barry told me, “LandWorks is joy.”
…and yes, Pete was still going on about his ex.
My eyes are opening a bit. I can see how joy plays a major role in mental health, motivation, social connection, and even physical well-being.
And thinking about this, I’m not sure many people arriving at LandWorks see much joy in their lives.
Beth put it simply: “When your world is a spinning nightmare of chaos and bad shit, you don’t see any joy. But a sign that life is improving is that I’ve found joy in working with soil and planting. I can feel joy again.”
The goldfinches are swirling once more as I take more Christmas cards down to the shop. Looking at our Christmas tree outside, it’s lovely in its simplicity, joyful.
Every year, a wonderful LandWorks supporter makes a donation in exchange for our tree on the day we close for Christmas. It then goes to their home for the holidays. This year will be no different.
I really like that.
“You have to find joy where you can.” (The Sun’s Comin’ over the Hill, by Karine Polwart)
Chris
4th December 2025