Beautiful Joy

He is sitting behind a wall of water. By himself.

The water is gushing around him, but just softly splashing him.

The sound of the water is drowning out all other sounds, disconnecting him from the rest of the world.

He is cocooned in his own bubble and all he has to do is feel.

He is happy, and has a smile on his face.

His twitching hands and flailing arms give him away. He is different.

After my first glance judgment of “why is he acting that way? That is not appropriate behavior for someone his age!”   I catch on really quick. He IS different.

Not different as in lesser or weird.

Different as in the way he senses things. Different as in the way he expresses his feelings.

And at this moment he is having the best sensory experience ever. I don’t know if it the soft licks of water on his body that feels good, or if it is the loudness of the water that is soothing to his ears.

At this moment he is expressing pure joy. He is feeling good and he is happy.

His caretaker is sitting on the edge of the pool, watching him. He has a happy smirk on his face, and something else…… I can’t quite put my finger on it but I think it is pride. 

He probably knows this young man better than most people. He knows what his daily struggles are, what scares him and what hinders him. Who knows the work involved to get him to the pool today. The young man taking care of him does, and at this moment he is proud of him.

I find myself not being able to look away. Not because he is different. Not because he is not acting “appropriately”.

I cannot look away because he is beautiful.  It is beautiful to watch such joy.

I look around the pool and realize that everyone is watching him. And every single person has a smile on their face. He is sharing his joy with the rest of us. Without even knowing he is making all our lives a little better today.