The beginning of a talk (click here to listen to the next part) given at a 2005 ECAMP retreat, Joanna reflects on the isolation, attachment and judgment that prohibits us from experiencing a truly free and peaceful happiness. Joanna uses the Shevah Brachot (seven blessings traditionally said at weddings) as a way of encountering the true happiness that God (and we) wish for ourselves.

…we are blessing them to be happy in the way that God and Adam and Eve were happy before the exile. …this is about the capacity to be in a state of union with God.

When we connect with the ground of being and also the truth of our experience there is a capacity for joy that is radically different than the happiness we hear about all the time.