Dr. Gabor Maté On The Myth Of Normal: Dahlia's Podcast - Behind-The-Scenes

[MelanieSakowski]

That’s absolutely beautiful, the question is not what brings you joy, but what blocks the joy that’s already there.

[elenisiopi]

This man is always so spot on. That's exactly it. Nothing brings joy, joy is always there. It's just hidden under all the junk

[SofiaMy]

Nature gives us the opportunity to release any hold of pain and animals show us the pure essence of life that births joy.
Not long ago i received two pictures of myself from when i was a child.
My mother always tells me that I was such a joyous child, always giggling, as if I had invisible fairies flying around me and tickling me all the time.
I have no memories of joy, happiness or play, only fear, anxiety and shame.
At the age of two i was taken from my mother and the security of a peaceful country to a country that has been a warzone for decades and conditions where everyone around me was severely broken.

In one picture I'm a little over a year, in a colorful environment with that laughing giggling face that my mother remembers.
The other picture, is taken in black and white at the age of 3, a year after arriving in the unsafe environment of the country i was taken to, and there is nothing left of the joy in my face but only fear.

7 years later the severity of war became a blessing and i got to return to my country of birth but it took me many years to find a way through all the trauma to fell anything other than anxiety. Eventually in the severity of my anxiety i found creativity and further along nature taught me how to quite the trauma noise within in its space. That gave creativity a whole other way of expression and in it i started encountering glimpses of joy.
Then i met my first dog and joy took on a whole other level when it was birthed out of love. Since then i have been blessed with three generations of her and can testify that dogs are a true gift of joy and love to humankind.
I am far from free from the ghosts of trauma, but in a way trauma cracked me open in a way that the joy that I'm able to experience i do with every fiber of my being.

[PetsNPatients]

Yes infants and dogs, always ready to be happy, live in the moment.

[openyourmind]

Such a real response! As a highly sensitive therapist, I think of joyful people as superficial extroverts who aren't paying attention to the terrible things in the world. To me joy is the brief absence of stress, pressure or the awareness of suffering.

[noraelam-cxxp]

According to God’s Word “Joy” is an inside job that God gives us. It is a gift of God that He freely gives along with many other gifts. I’m always happy and glad to hear from Dr. Gabor Mate. For three years his books have been very helpful and the different interviews and podcasts he’s done are awesome. Thanks for sharing this video and to Dr. Gabor Mate thanks for sharing your story and thoughts and for being who you are.

[waheedaghafoor]

Great question and great response. Very relateble. I do agree as a child I had this inner light that's dimmed over time. I feel that the older I've gotten the less I've experienced joy. Reason being the numbness that has resulted from the numerous traumas I've experienced since I was a child - from different types of abuse, rejection and bereavements. These events have really blocked my joy and affected my self perception and ability to connect to the meaning of life.

[queen_minnieme]

I started to experience joy again when I reconnected to my authentic self. What does that mean? I started listening to what I truly wanted and not what other people would think about me. I did everything a normal person in my society wouldn’t- nothing destructive but just choosing a path unconventional for my culture. I began healing and started feeling extreme joy today and it felt like childhood.
We live based on ego (how others would perceive us/truama based reactions) and when we choose to feel and be honest with our feelings and respect our worth. It is reversible.

[GaiaEdithRose]

Wonderful perspective and question, what’s blocking your joy? I’m someone unusually joyful for an adult. But I used to be very unhappy, had a very traumatic childhood, even attempted to end my life 15 years ago. For me, it was the releasing of the social conditions, the old stories hurts and patterns, the full shedding of everything and everyone that didn’t serve me that allowed joy and peace also to emerge forth. If I’ve painted this as an easy or comfortable process, it was neither. It was the darkest heaviest hardest thing imaginable filled with so much loss and letting go, followed by an eventual reconnection with that intrinsic joy we see in infants, children etc. So yes, from my experience I think he’s correct. The question isn’t how can I be joyful, the question why aren’t I joyful currently, what’s the block.

[maritaberndt]

Wearing comfortable shoes brings me joy.

[danaking]

Overthinking could rob one from the feeling spontaneous joy at any given moment.❤

[marielleo]

I think Gábor hasn't got really joy! He has passion and this is working!

[apachewolfscout]

Love it! May more people experience joy.

[mateussarmento]

The joy has always been there and the real question is what's in the way of experience joy. To be openly about it, I've been mistakenly trying to find joy in things instead solving the habits, situations and traumas that gets me away from joy.

[valerie]

Did not respond to the question lol, love him ..what's Blocks the Joy for him ?

[pauljung]

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." ~ Joseph Campbell

"In the right kind of recreation -- there, I found -- my much needed restoration!" ~ Paul Jung

"Joy returns us to everything that is good and beautiful and worth fighting for. In joy, we see even darkness with new eyes." ~ Valerie Kaur

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.” ~ Stuart Brown, MD

"With fun, there is no foil -- that I cannot overcome." ~ Paul Jung

"Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play." ~ Heraclitus 500 BCE, philosopher

“Children have always learned and created places for themselves through play.” ~ Donna R. Barnes

“… We need to play so that we can rediscover the magic all around us.” ~ Flora Colao

"To not contribute to a world of play -- would be inhuman and inhumane." ~ Paul Jung

[pauljung]

"If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down." ~ Toni Morrison

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." ~ Maya Angelou

“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!” ~ Charlie Chaplin

“A man is getting old when he walks around a puddle, instead of through it.” ~ R.C. Ferguson

"Lumps hurt, lessons heal, laughter is heaven." ~ Paul Jung

"To laugh often and love much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." ~ Lucy Hone

“The soul is healed by being with children.” ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

[melanie.l]

He does a job he like wife children i am surprised that he didnt experince joy

[melaniestewart]

Society and expectations is what blocks joy

[bburns]

I'm sorry that he hasn't found more joy in life - he didn't say what he thinks is blocking it for him...