Caution: Singing Driver, or, Tears of Joy Ahead

Accepting all I’ve done and said
I want to stand and stare again
Til there’s nothing left out,
It remains there in your eyes
Whatever comes and goes
I will hear your silent call
I will touch this tender wall
Til I know I’m home again.
Peter Gabriel

This past weekend, when my wife and I were up in Gualala for a quick overnight getaway, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Caution: Singing Driver. I loved it! It reminded me of how much I love to sing in the car when I’m alone and how long it’s been since I’ve really blasted out some tunes.

This morning, on the way home from dropping off my wife and daughter at the airport for their visit to Mimi and Pop-pop, I had a chance to let loose with some good tunes.
Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” the special mix live version, happened to be in the tape player. And if you haven’t heard that version, I highly recommend it. I was singing along with Peter, Paula and everyone else. I could feel the power of the positive, creative energy they generated when they recorded that song. It was palpable, both in their performances and in the response of the crowd.

As I sang along, with a beaming smile and tears running down my cheeks, so moved by the energy I felt flowing into and through me, I was reminded of a question that a student in my 12-week Law of Attraction course posed on the first night of class. After the guided visualization that connected her so deeply to her joy, she wondered how she could hold that level of intense joy, joy that threatens to bubble up and out of her through tears or other expressions.

At the time I wondered, a bit playfully, back to her and the entire class, why that would be such a bad thing. To feel joy so intensely that tears come would mean that, as Abraham says, you are pretty “tapped in, tuned in and turned on.”

Too bad it is that we don’t feel comfortable at the prospect of walking around all the time with tears of joy and a big smile on our faces. What would our neighbors and co-workers and family think of us? They’d probably consider us loony and have us hauled away to the funny farm. (Hmm interesting name!) 

When I picture the mystical poet Rumi, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine him walking around with tears of joy constantly flowing down his face. Jesus, too, I can imagine having extended moments of overflowing expressions of joy.

And while I’m not quite ready to call in 24/7 tears of joy, I am open to allowing many more experiences and expressions of joy into my life!

What brings you to tears? What awakens such a profound sense of joy that you can’t help but allow the tears to flow?

For me it is music that harmonizes with my essence, my daughter’s exuberant “dada!” as I walk in the door, a visit from a hummingbird just when I feel lost and disconnected from my joy, the story of a student sharing a newly remembered connection to their joy. These moments connect me to my joy. Yes, the joy threatens to and often does overflow into tears. And that’s just fine with me!

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Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Creativity, Emotions, Feelings, Inspiration, Joy, Personal Growth