Soap Bubbles - A Moment of Joy and the Quiet Voice of Conditioning
In the heart of Berlin, where the rhythm of the city hums, everyone is moving faster, sounds, impulses, distractions and plenty of people on their own mission of the day…
I witnessed a simple and remarkable moment. A little girl, 6-8 Years old - not sure, eyes wide open with wonder, curious, dancing in a cloud of soap bubbles in front of a store.
The streets became her playground, each bubble a world of pure joy, shimmering with colors and possibility. Her laughter from a place of heart, light and free, a pure expression of delight that touched me… i stopped and paused for a moment.
A dance of joy, accompanied by enormous willpower to get as many soap bubbles out of the machine as possible
But then, as if the joy itself was too much, her father leaned down and gently told her, “There are too many bubbles. They might bother the people sitting nearby.” The girl paused, her hand lowered, the magic disappeared by an unspoken rule, spoken by her dad.
And in that moment, I saw a reflection of something deep within us all.
Why do we, as adults, often shrink away from joy? What is it that makes us think our happiness is something to be contained, managed, even hidden away?
Somewhere along the way of growing up, we were conditioned to believe that joy should be kept small. Perhaps it was in a classroom, where laughter was met with a stern look. Or at a dinner table, where emotions were kept small. We learned that too much happiness might be disruptive, even selfish, as if our light could cast shadows on others.
When did joy become something to be guilty of?
When did we start believing that our happiness might inconvenience others?
The truth is, joy can´t bother others. The frequency of Joy is pure, an internal expression of the heart.
One person’s delight does not diminish another’s. In fact, it often does the opposite. Imagine throwing a stone in a mirror clear lake - ripples of joy effekt others, going through and every wave of joy is a chance to feel the same.
Are you allowing it?
As I watched that little girl, I wondered how many times I’ve let my own bubbles fade before they’ve even had a chance to rise into the air. How many times have I restrained my laughter and tempered my excitement out of a misguided fear of being “too much”
This is not a call to blame others, rather a reminder to listen to that inner voice of conditioning with curiosity. Children can teach us here to look at the world through their pure eyes.
To notice when it whispers that our joy is too loud, too bright, too much. And to ask ourselves, is that really true?
These beautiful Soap Bubbles embody beautiful moment of presence and joy. A reminder that life’s simplest pleasures often hold the most profound truths.
Lets hunt more Soap Bubbles - you in?
With Love
Johannes
