Formidable Joy

“I am always daydreaming in the bathtub between recordings," Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan of the Welsh rock band The Joy Formidable said.  “That diffuse thinking where your mind wanders freely — I always finish songs when I’m in that state. The idea that your imagination, that escape into another, deeper world can sometimes create a stronger connection with yourself.”

To me, these words point very directly to the practical, down-to-earth side of the so-called mystical experience.  The concept that there is "another, deeper world" that already exists inside of us and to which we can, under the right conditions, retreat or to which we can escape.  Those conditions may be the  warm, watery comforts of the bathtub, or prayer, or meditation.  Whatever works for you personally.

It's 2021, and I can safely say that I've enjoyed The Joy Formidable for over a decade now.  I've seen them at least three or four times, and have never been disappointed by their sets.  Their music can be quite loud and overwhelming, but it's rarely (if ever) angry or aggressive - they seem to approach a kind of joyous transcendence in the sheer volume of their music and the complexity of their overlapping effects.  Watch their drummer - he always seems to be having the time of his life, and it's clear that there is absolutely nowhere he'd rather be than right there playing with this band.

But the takeaway here is that the creative state, that near mystical state where solutions and ideas spontaneously and intuitively present themselves, already exists inside each of us if we can just clear away the obstructions.  It's not something that needs to be learned, or gained, or purchased - it just needs to be realized.