When I told a friend, this is what I was going to title my blog, she suggested I rethink it as I might offend a few people. Although I could not find an official definition of juicy people anywhere, I found numerous references to them as those people who are photographed wearing outfits that make people take pictures of them and post them on Facebook. It seems one of the more popular stores to find this type of juicy person is at Wal-Mart.
However, that is not the type of juicy people I wanted to talk about today. Rich Heffern in his book, Daybreak Within: Living in a Sacred World, wrote, "Hildegard of Bingen, twelfth century mystic, counseled her spiritual directees to be 'juicy people,' folks who are so filled with wonder and curiosity, with lusty appetites and high spirits, that they embrace life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a burly, grinning bear hug. To be juicy is to be: a fearlessly joyous optimist, a troublemaker tirelessly afflicting the comfortable, a passionate lover of good talk and tasty food, an anonymous prophet hovering over the cosmological riddle, a frequent violator of the ordinance against indecent exposure of the heart, and a guerilla in the insurrection against Dream Molesters everywhere."
While the juicy people of today may have the common quality of indecent exposure in common with the juicy people of Hildegard of Bingen’s time, there is a significant difference between indecent exposure of one’s body and one’s heart. As one who journeys with people as a spiritual partner, I found Hildegard’s description interesting. It is similar to the guidance that I share with those whom I journey with. To be juicy from a spiritual perspective is about being filled with enthusiasm for life. It is about having a hunger for a life filled with passion for living and for always looking for the happiness and joy in each moment. It is not about focusing on the negative, but about the positive.
There is nothing like sharing a meal with juicy people. One gets to experience deep conversations, deep laughter, and people who refuse to let anybody steal their joy or destroy their dreams. What I appreciate about the juicy people in my life is that they are optimistic, always looking for the blessings in a situation, and always willing to challenge me to grow when I appear to have become a little too comfortable and settled.
So how juicy are you? How many juicy people do you have in your life? What do they do to help you stay juicy and keep your juices flowing? Are you one who wants to become juicy or are you content with letting your juices dry up?