Or….More Vorfreude and less Schadenfreude

Rose recently alerted us to a new concept coming out of the world of psychology, an area of life of which we are both not unaware, if also somewhat cynical of. Rather wonderfully, given the destination of our upcoming wander, the term he introduced into our shared lexicon was a German term ‘Vorfreude‘ or ‘the anticipation of joy’.

Apparently, winding ourselves up into a frenzy of expectation regarding our Black Forest adventure is actually of great benefit to our mental health. There is certainly no doubt about it, we are both in a state of increasing vorfreude as our start date looms. Personally, I am so vorfreuden I am fit to burst, or as the Germans would put it: sehrvielenvorfreudenburstmachen. (Put it in google translate, the word actually works).

According to one of the experts quoted in the Gurniad article discovered by Rose, people often feel joy and excitement when planning a trip, thinking about going on a date or anticipating a special meal. Well all those things are true of us. Although Rose is not the most eagerly anticipated date night companion, as well as the trip I shall be discovering the joy of turning 65 during our wander, and Rose has promised me a special Geburtstagsessen. So two out of three ain’t bad.

Apparently, looking forward to something increases the pleasure of the event itself. So we are actually having two wanders: one imaginary, the other real. The article lists 30 ‘zero-effort’ ways to fill our lives with joy. Not so sure about the zero effort bit though. We recently had a look at the gradients on our forthcoming wander….and the gym is far from the zero effort recommended by the Gurniad. Nonetheless, pouring over maps, tracing routes in highlighter pen and imagining experiencing the multiple wellness treats provided by the Black Forest hotels seems to fit the bill nicely. Very sehrvielenvorfreudenburstmachenwellness.

Among the other vorfreuden tricks listed we will most certainly engage in are savouring the moment (check), treating ourselves (check), scheduling movement (very much a check), looking for natural wonders (check), throwing a party (check, see earlier comment regarding Geburtstagsessen) and enjoying getting ready for bed (check, post wander exhaustion really helps here). There are a few duds though including meal planning, a daily poem and going to the library, none of which seem to fit into our rugged wander existence.

However, FUTURE ALERT, ‘putting plans in writing’ and ‘keeping a joy journal’ are right up there, despite worries about potential joy journal messiness. We have been much taken with recent Facebook postings by friends @DouglasThompson and @PaulWheble on their respective wanders. We will be doing similar. Please follow @WanderingMan for daily posts on the wander and delve into our very own daily Joy Journal, or as the Germans would say, “sehrvielenvorfreudenburstmachentäglichjoyjournal“.