Joules of joy - Calories to consciousness
Reflections by Michael Striem
Introduction
For more than fifty years I have worked with trees and vines, soils, microbes, fermentation, and the complex intelligence of nature. Much of what I learned did not come from laboratories or journals, but from outdoor observations. By direct experience of pruning in winter, tasting berries in summer, watching fermentation come alive in autumn. I found deep feelings for the interior peace of a vineyard at dawn or dusk.
I write these notes as a person, grape breeder, winemaker, and lifelong observer of living systems, not as a philosopher or neuroscientist. These reflections are not meant as academic claims. They are personal observations on how my life senses, communicates, adapts, remembers, and grows. My curiosity leads me to think about how living beings turn metabolic energy — simple joules — into something far more glorious: knowledge, interior experience, meaning, behavior, creativity, bonding, all parts of our joy.
Asking questions is vital to life and progress. Nowadays finding answers has become amazingly easy with AI. I enjoy tremendously the false feeling of “friendship” with the chat bot. It (the computer) seems to “know” me better than I do 😊 Thus, we must critically review the information and carefully deduct our actions. However, our subjective feelings, memories of nostalgia, friendship, love and compassion, are the essence of our joy.
Joy is not matter, yet it matters most.
Joy is:
🔍 Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long lasting happiness and contentment of life.
🌿 Joy is a subjective feeling, a conscious state of a moment.
🕊️ Joy directs evolution: If we think of consciousness as “the driver” then joy is the compass that directs the movement.
🎨 Joy and pain are cooperating; they shape matter everywhere. they direct evolution toward richer, more integrated experiences.
✨ Joy is not a privilege of achievement but a birthright of existence.
⭐ Joy is the energetic and conscious thread that runs through both the biological food chain and the metaphysical unfolding of existence.
⚡ Joy is not a decoration — it’s the system’s built-in indicator of optimal operation.
👉 The “good feeling” is an internal feedback signal saying, “Energy is flowing freely; no blockages.”
😊 Joy is not just the reward at the end of understanding —
it is the energy that allows understanding.
Joy is not matter, yet it matters most
🌿 Life does not end with its metabolism, it continues through memory, intuition, cooperation, identity, and imagination.
🍇 A vine reaches for sunlight, a wolf reaches for its pack, and a human reaches for beauty, belonging, and truth.
✨ We do not only consume energy, but we also translate it into experience with a profound meaning.
🎨 Wherever life refines interiority, energy becomes more than motion, it becomes learning, emotion, and gratitude.
⭐ Joy lights the pathway toward flourishing while pain teaches the edges of existence.
⚡ Across evolutionary time we learn to walk, to think, to love, to make wine, to write music, to dream, and sometimes to feel awe.
✨ It may be that the destiny of life IS to sing with its whole being, to harmonize matter and meaning, biology and interiority, metabolism and joy.
🌙 We are here mainly to live and survive nature; Furthermore, we are here to feel nature from within.
🍷 Let us raise a glass to that quiet miracle:
energy becoming awareness,
awareness becoming direction,
direction becoming joy.
Joy is not matter, yet it matters most.
🍷 Le’Hayim
To life, to joy, and to the beautiful interiority of living systems.
~~ Michael Striem ~~
© You are welcome to share the text on my webpages for personal use.
Please credit: Dr. Michael Striem.
Disclaimer: These reflections on joy, pain, consciousness and evolution were shaped through conversations between human intuition (me) and machine intelligence. ChatGPT and Perplexity served as a companion in organizing thoughts, illuminating connections, and identifying relevant scholarly paths. The vision, meaning, and philosophical direction remain entirely mine (M.S.), while the clarity of expression owes much to this unique and joyful collaboration.
Please help me correct mistakes, which human and machines do.
