Joie En Route: Traveling with Passion & Joy

I'm embarking on a quest to share insights and experiences that can help you find more joy in your own life!

May 26, 2023

This is such an exciting post to write—mainly because it is something that has been under the works for the past year+ !

I’m so so so appreciative and amazed to be writing this post all about what my “joie en route.”

Keep reading to find out what it is all about!

Some Background

Honestly, this “joy-urney” has been a long time coming in it is amazing to look back and see all the “signs” that were pointing me in this direction in life.

If you were to read my About Page and/or my post celebrating my first-year anniversary of this space, you would see that in 2020 I entered the darkest point in my life—and it was from that space that this site and my own inner joy blossomed from.

When I was in my depths of healing from that dark period—one word kept coming forth (that I truly believe was from a higher source because I was in such a dark space on my own), and that word was joy. And, I truly believe that was my higher calling, my life’s purpose coming through to me.

However, as I went more and more into my own inner healing, I kept getting more “snapshots” of what this joy meant. It wasn’t all at once, but gradually over time, I kept getting a better picture of how this “joy” was supposed to come forth into this world through me.

One picture was creating a space that helped people to live with more joy, and this is where the Joyfilled Living posts come from.

Another picture—perhaps the biggest!— was the Portraits de Joie snapshot where I highlight individuals defining what joy means to them.

And, finally, the last (for the moment!) picture was the Joie En Route series.

This series is something that I am so passionate about, excited about, and feel so much appreciation for that this gets to be part of my “purpose” in life.

The Joie En Route Pillars

I certainly cannot take all the credit for this series, it was born from a combination of others’ own life paths/callings. These are the top three people/ sources that serve as the pillars that make up the foundations for this series.

They are...

#1: Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist

The Alchemist was first introduced to me as one of our last English reading assignments my senior year of high school—and it quickly became one of my favorite books that we read in the entire span of my school years.

Something about it just speaks to my soul more than any other book ever has.

Perhaps that is because it is innately about us.

We are all Santiago in life—trying to find our personal mission, our own personal legends, and are constantly being guided towards something higher than ourselves.

This personal legend often calls us way beyond the comfort zone we know, and we will be forced into truly letting go of the things that no longer serve us in order to make room for what allows for our personal legend to come forth into our lives (and thus into this world).

Joie En Route is just that.

It is a calling way beyond what was in my awareness, but I feel subconsciously that I always desired and wanted it. It has also questioned my limited beliefs, had me release things/people/experiences, and has tested my faith beyond belief.

And so far, it has been worth it beyond words can express.

Because my soul has never been so…well…joyful and thriving.

#2: Helen Russell’s The Atlas of Happiness

Helen Russell’s book (which along with The Alchemist are listed as two books in my post on 10 books about living with joy) because these two books have had such a profound impact on my own inner joy, as well as serving as pillars for this series.

Helen’s The Atlas of Happiness is focused entirely on traveling around the world in its pages to learn all about what ideas/actions/beliefs/etc. inspire happiness in different countries. She then gives practical tips to take this country’s happiness lesson and integrate it into your own life.

What I absolutely love about Helen’s book is the idea of learning what an idea/topic means in another country and how can you take that information and use it where you live.

Something that may be a surprise to some is that I love political science things and even graduated with a political science background. Why I am telling you this is because this is something that is going to show up here and there in the Joie En Route series ahead inspired by Helen Russell’s The Atlas of Happiness!

#3: Bella Lively’s Flow Diaries + Michael Singer’s The Surrender Experiment

Last—but certainly not least by a mile— is Bella Lively’s Flow Diaries series on her podcast and Michael Singer’s The Surrender Experiment book.

Bella Lively’s The Lively Show podcast is perhaps the biggest impact on what has become Joie En Route.

About six years ago, I recently discovered and was getting into podcasts. While I was scrolling and researching podcasts to try, I stumbled upon The Lively Show.

I decided to give it a try.

And, the first episode I played was all about what Bella packed for her Lively Adventure—which then gave way to her Flow Diaries series.

And I remember being like “What….????!!! This host is traveling around the world following her intuition?”

Fast forward a few years to 2020 and my inner healing, and I found my own soul desiring this very same thing

However, it seemed so big. So out-there. Unlike anyone else I knew personally.

Yet, I saw through Bella Lively that it was possible.

It took a few beliefs to drop and shift (I thought for a while that I would move away and live somewhere warm for a while, grow this space, and then embark on my own version of Bella’s Flow Diaries). Yet, as a higher power would have it, I suddenly found myself living my soul’s purpose one month after I lived somewhere I thought I was going to live long term.

Through Bella and her podcast, I discovered Michael Singer’s The Surrender Experiment which is what inspired her Flow Diaries journey.

Having lots of long road trips, I downloaded The Surrender Experiment audiobook, and it just blew me away. His “surrender experiment” in life led him a life beyond anything he could create on his own.

Between Bella Lively and Michael Singer, I was hooked—and knew I needed to follow my own “Joie En Route.”

Top The Lively Show episodes for Traveling with your Intuition

So, What’s Joie En Route?

So, what exactly is my “joie en route” which I keep talking about?

Well, it’s a combination mainly of all three of these pillars/people/resources I listed above.

In short though: joie en route is about embarking on a journey to seek out what joy means to the world (& to me!)

It is part The Alchemist in that this is something I deeply know is part of my soul’s personal mission here on Earth to explore this planet, and I am constantly learning and growing from my travels.

It is part Helen Russell’s The Atlas of Happiness in that my joie en route focuses on learning different joy-lessons from the different places I am. This means learning more about what makes that place joyful and how can one incorporate this joy lesson wherever they are living in the world.

Lastly, it is part Bella Lively’s Flow Diaries/ Michael Singer’s The Surrender Experiment in that this joie en route is truly being guided by something bigger than me.

After several months of living this joie en route, I am so excited to share this series with you! Stay tuned!

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