At first glance, this may seem an odd phrase. Isn’t disillusionment a negative concept that would be nearly the opposite of joy? How can we find joy in such a depressing condition?

It is not considered a good thing for someone to become disillusioned. It speaks of someone who has lost their vision or dreams and who is, perhaps, floundering on the stones of harsh pessimism and broken promises.

To those of us who were suckled and steeped in religion, the prospect of losing belief in deity is ominous, if not terrifying. Anyone who “loses their faith”, is viewed with pity - a sad, lonely, disillusioned figure - a figure to be consoled, corrected, or avoided. When the balloon of belief finally burst for me, I was depressed and upset. I grieved for the loss of God and Heaven, and I felt betrayed by the society that instilled these beliefs in me and by my own self for being less critical than I should have been for so many years.

For those of us who have come out of a religious life to the acceptance of disbelief and of a rational world view, the word disillusionment is uniquely appropriate, but in a new and positive way. In fact, it is the perfect term for us.
When we dissect this word, the root is, of course, “illusion”. To be “dis-illusioned”, therefore, is to not be deceived by the illusion. Finally, it is to reject the illusion in favor of what is real.

For the former Christian, disillusionment has chiefly to do with the hope and expectation of life beyond death. If we remove God from our understanding of reality, we also remove all hope and means of achieving such a future life. The idea of our deaths as simple annihilation is too frightening - too alien - to bear. Should we have the courage to bear it, however, we can come to a new view of our lives. Because we no longer are expecting a future eternal life (to which access is conditional), we are naturally led to refocus on the real physical life we have. The value of our life and of each day and moment of it is magnified dramatically. We are instilled with a new courage to live this life fully and not to waste our precious time on futile fantasies. We work harder to stay healthy, productive, and creative as we do our best to extend our useful life spans.

As I began to live this new life, I realized that it is richer and more satisfying than the life I had been living. My disillusionment has caused me to go through a process of emptiness, followed by reassessment and refocus, and finally, newfound health and joy in my present life.

This process can be stated as something of a rule or law: disillusionment in a dysfunctional fantasy results in health and new functionality.

There is true joy in this kind of disillusionment. For me, it was like waking up from a long illness or autism. When we replace illusion with reality, we step out of our cavern of myth and take a deep breath of the air outside - brisk and with a tang of scents unknown. It is the real world we are inhaling and it enlivens us to move forward and to value who and what we truly are.

True disillusionment is the perception of the real, and this is the essential quality we must have to create true joy in our lives. The process of disillusionment gives us the opportunity to live an enriched and fulfilled life.

Comments or questions:
joy@newrational.com