Joy (Part 1)

Once upon a time, there was a Great King who lived in a Great Castle, and ruled over a Great Kingdom and all the Realms Beyond. Many tales have been told about the kingdom, but very little is known of the Realms Beyond, especially those at the furthest corners of the land, for none of the kingdom’s citizens ventured to the far, far away lands, except the Son of the Great King, whom the King sent out on his most important royal quests. The Son could be seen travelling through the Great Forest and in some of the closer, more familiar realms; but then he would disappear over the purple mountain ridge to the west, or fade into the morning mist of the plains to the east, and would be gone for a long while, and no one but the King knew where he was or when he would return.

In one of these far-away Realms Beyond, there lived a young woman named Joy. She was artistic and brilliantly intelligent, always creatively analyzing her world and finding ways to unfold its mysteries to others. She was lovely, but if the citizens of the Great Kingdom ever saw her, they would have thought her quite unusual, for she had what her people would call a “peacock blue mind” – a visible, colorful gem that shone from inside her head. Everyone in that land had a similar gem, and in their culture, the color of one’s mind was highly regarded and told a great deal about a person’s strength and love. It was also valuable because it indicated whether one was a blessing or a curse to others. A rustic red mind was old and marred by sadness and regret, while a chartreuse mind was young and impulsive with great potential for wickedness. But the peacock blue mind – that was the clearest and most perceptive of all minds, able to penetrate debris and filth and find the most precious things in life.

The colors were also a sort of filter for how people perceived and reacted to circumstances in their lives. For the poor soul plagued with a rustic red mind, their color ate away all joy and hope and left the soggy bits of tragedy as the only remains of their memories.  The dreaded chartreuse mind may have had the same experience, but internally they clung in a magnetic fashion to the evil intentions and ill will in the memories. The one with a peacock blue mind would recall none of these pieces salvaged by the others, because love and truth and joy and hope and peace are all that would stand and shine forth.

Imagine the implications of such a gift creating and shaping a society! Such was the world in which Joy lived and worked.

She had a cozy little office space; decorated in warm earth tones – tan rugs, light blue and brown arm chairs, taupe walls, and a beige overstuffed sofa. Taupe minds were the best for interior designs, because they filtered all tension out and retained only comfort and inviting refreshment; the taupe-minded decorator, Wendy, sat serenely on the sofa, patiently waiting and admiring her work. White and cream candles in dark bronze candelabras were on the walls and side tables, but the subtle highlights of peacock blue frames and flower pots brought true joy and hope. It was needed, because it was the purpose of the office, which was the community’s “Center for Hope, Comfort, and Joy.”

“I wonder if we will have any visitors today?” pondered Lily, whose mind was the lovely green of an early spring crocus bud. “I hope so… it’s been so quiet the past few days.” She crossed her legs and popped a chocolate truffle in her mouth.

“Well, we did just come out of the holiday season,” Joy pointed out from her place behind the desk, “and there are so many joyous things that have happened lately, it would be hard even for our Storm-Blue Brody to find the worst. The community cannot easily forget the delight of the new baby born just a week ago, or the three wedding engagements that were announced, and the newspapers are still gushing about the marvelous celebrations and the bountiful blessings and all the happiness…”

“I sort of hope we don’t have visitors today,” Wendy said with a gentle smile, “because that would mean their colors are still working hard to filter out the positive, and there are still too many wonderful things they haven’t been able to forget.”

The other two ladies agreed, and raised their coffee mugs. “Here’s to another day of no business!” toasted Joy, and the others laughed and sipped their drinks.