My name is Amber and I have been struggling with depression since 2007. Maybe I was depressed before that, but it didn’t really hit me hard until my miscarriage. And later, too, when my third child was born. I take medication every day and I see a therapist. It’s just part of my life; I deal with it.
I really wish I was one of those people who is naturally happy, but I’m just not. When I started picking names for my (fourth) baby last fall, I had the thought that I would love a name that meant “happy.” Depression has just been such a huge burden and I wanted to sort of bless my daughter with all the joy that I could give her.
We’d heard the name Jovie from the movie Elf, which we love, and thought it was cute. But it wasn’t until I was searching for baby names online that I found out its meaning. Jovie means joyful. Bam, I loved it!
My mom thought it would be a cute idea for me to take a picture of Jovie every day of her life, for the first year. I thought, “Why not put it on a blog?” And thus, Capturing Joy was born. The idea is 365 days of capturing the joy in life. Each day Jovie makes an appearance. And daily, it is my goal to deliver a word or more on the joy that I have sought after and found that day.
Some days have been really tough; the joy isn’t always evident. But I can always seem to think of at least one thing, person, or moment that brought me a glimmer of happiness. This quest has become a blessing in my life.
“Men are that they might have joy,” right? I intend to capture it. And you can, too!
