A few years ago, residents of a home in the historic district of our 300-year-old town of Edenton, North Carolina, went against the traditional, “tasteful” grain of most of our outdoor Christmas decorations. They festooned their front-yard, bare-branched tree with strings of multi-colored lights, blinking ropes of lights, and neon-bright dangling lights in what appeared to be a haphazard manner. It looked as though it might have stepped out of the pages of a Dr. Seuss children’s book. And…it made me smile. It made the whole town smile and was dubbed the “Joy Tree.”
The following year, other townspeople decorated their own Joy Trees, until—now—there are dozens of joyful, Dr. Seussical trees sharing our outdoor décor with the usual colonial-era-inspired natural wreaths and subtle ivory candlelight. Last year, my husband and I became the first residents on our block to create a Joy Tree of our own. We hung giant snowflakes that reflected glowing blue, purple, and green ropes of light along with pink “dripping icicle” lights. This year we added an additional eighty-two feet of tiny multi-colored lights. Gaudy? Sure. Joyful? Undoubtedly
Joy Trees have drawn our small town closer together as we share our unique expressions of unfettered joyful fun. We have proven that two very different kinds of Christmas expressions can not only co-exist, but actually enhance one another, much like our diverse population made of equal parts centuries-old families and relative newcomers from other regions.
This brings me to the origin of the word, “joy”. I love learning the history and etymology of words. Yes, I’m a hopeless Word Nerd! If you’re like me, you can’t imagine certain words not being in one’s daily life, but there was always a first use. For example, the word, “joy”, had its first known use in Middle-English during the 13th century. It can be traced to the Anglo-French, joie, then back to the Latin word, gaudia (plural form of gaudium,) which was derived from the Latin gaudēre, meaning “to rejoice”.
Hmmm…gaudia/gaudium…sounds kind of like “gaudy”, doesn’t it? Well, for good reason! “Gaudy”, which according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary means, ostentatiously or tastelessly ornamented, had its first known use in 16th century English, and can be traced back to the Latin, gaudia.
Now, spread some of your own Christmas joy: the quiet, serene kind or the unbridled, childlike variety! And if it’s the gaudier kind—whether it’s as big and obvious as a front-yard Joy Tree, or as small and consumable as brightly decorated holiday cookies—just go for it. Christmas should be the most non-judgmental of holidays. So, go forth and Rejoice in the season that celebrates how Love came down at Christmas. Joy to the World, indeed!
Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back, now. (And give yourself permission to feel and express JOY in all of its incarnations!)
Kathryn