Intentional Jubilation

The Three Festivals, teaches Reb Nachman, are the heart of the year. During the year we serve God in all sorts of ways, do all sorts of Mitzvot with our bodies but don't necessarily feel their spiritual ramification. At times it might even feel that all our efforts fall into an unknown abyss. The Festivals are a time when we start feeling how our mitzvot profoundly transformed our insides. It is a time of celebration, when some of the Divine joy comes down to us.
what do we need to do in order to connect with this Joy?
One of the Halachot of Yom Tov is that you may only use or eat things that you intended to use already before the coming of the Yom Tov. For example if you put grapes up on the roof in order that they turn into raisins and the when Yom Tov came you changed your mind and decided to eat the grapes, you may not do so. This is because you put these grapes away not to be used.
Now, what if you intended to use it for one use and then (on Yom Tov)you would like to use it for a different use. Is that allowed?
The Gemara makes the following distinction; if originally food was intended to be used as dog food and afterwards the owner changed his mind and decided to eat it himself this is permitted. But if the opposite happened, namely, food was set aside for human consumption and it subsequently became in edible for people but okay for the dog, in this case it is forbidden to be fed to the dog because it is considered that it was not prepared before Yom Tov for the dog.
What is the spiritual idea behind this law?
The law that all food that we eat on Yom Tov must have been set aside for that before teaches us that the key to receiving the Divine joy is intention and preparation. But this does not only mean that I must settle down and focus and say to myself, "I want to connect the sanctity of the Festival." It is a lot more than that. This intention and focus needs to extend to all my possessions and activities. If I want to gather together all the sparks of Godliness from my entire year then I must be able to at least gather together my whole day into the consciousness of celebration. My food didn't just happen to be here it is here intentionally to participate in God's party.
For this reason, if you had in mind to use this food for yourself it does not suffice if you to give it to the dog. Because the dog represents all that that is more earthly and naturally more distanced from human consciousness. It is particularly those things, the more peripheral parts of the person that need the most focus on Yom Tov. We open our selves to receiving total joy when we celebrate with total all-encompassing intentionality.