Doses of Joy

We are a society of productivity. Of hustle. Of proving and pushing.

You’ve probably heard sayings like “Work hard, play hard” or “Laughter is the best medicine.”

But how often do we actually invest in joy… as a practice, not a byproduct? When’s the last time you were the source of joy for yourself?

If you’re anything like me, joy can show up during the smallest moments – like when your favorite song surprises you on the radio or the smell of rain hits warm pavement. But how often do we deliberately bring ourselves joy, not just wait for it to show up?

We talk a lot about care. Usually for others. Today, I’m inviting you to turn some of that nurturing inward.

Because here’s the thing: Consistently investing energy in joy – your joy – rewires your brain and feeds your spirit.

The Science of It

Your brain is beautifully adaptable thanks to something called neuroplasticity. Each time you choose joy, delight, or even just pause for wonder, you’re strengthening the neural pathways that help your brain find joy more easily next time.

Like carving a new trail through a forest, your attention creates access. The more often you walk the path, the more natural it becomes. And this doesn’t just change your thoughts. It shifts your body.

When you experience joy or contentment, your parasympathetic nervous system turns on. That’s the system responsible for rest, digestion, and healing. Your heart rate stabilizes. Your breath deepens. Your body remembers that you are safe.

Joy becomes a physiological intervention. A signal that not everything is on fire. A permission slip to exhale.

Reprogramming vs Bypassing

To be clear, it isn’t bypassing we are after here.

When grief, anger, or fear come up – feel them. Let them move through you.This practice doesn’t erase or negate pain. It helps ensure it doesn’t become the only lens you see through.

We’re not reprogramming your feelings.
We’re reprogramming the automatic thought loops—the ones that quietly keep your nervous system on high alert even when you’re safe.

Remember the movie Inside Out? For most of the film, Joy tries to take control, believing she has to keep Sadness at bay. But in the end (spoiler alert) she realizes something essential: Real healing requires all the feelings to have a seat at the table. That’s what we’re practicing here.

Not replacing grief with glitter… but widening the aperture so joy can live here, too.

Reconnect with your Inner Child

Sometimes, joy doesn’t show up as a belly laugh or a firework of energy. It arrives quietly.

Like:

• Wonder at the way light moves through trees
• Delight in the texture of something soft
• A surprising moment of awe
• The impulse to play, just because
• The luxury of stillness when you get in the car alone after a noisy day

These are not distractions. They are reminders. From your inner child. From your nervous system.
From your soul. Let joy come in whatever form it wants to take. Let it be enough.

Define Your Joy-Makers

Make a list. A long one. Write down things that bring you joy – big or small, ridiculous or sacred.

Need some inspiration? Here are a few of mine:

• the smell of rain on a warm day
• the feeling of a rose petal between my fingers
• a hug from Mom
• my favorite song on the radio
• knitting
• watching my best friend laugh
• cuddling a puppy
• a good pun
• sand between my toes at the beach
• a good stretch

Most of these are simple. Many are free. Almost all of them are accessible in a few minutes.

Then: Do a Joy-Maker

Every day if you can. Once a week at the very least.

Put a reminder in your calendar or set a recurring alarm that simply says, “Give myself joy today.”

This might sound too simple to matter. But it works. It shifts your perspective from the inside out. Gently. Consistently.

I don’t know who first invented this practice, but I do know it’s a tool worth repeating.

Mark Manson, in his article Screw Finding Your Passion, suggests that you don’t need to ‘find your passion’. You already know what lights you up. You’ve just been taught to ignore it. To judge it. To think joy has to earn its keep.

Perhaps, remembering what your passion even is begins by reconnecting with joy.

One more thing: happiness is not the goal.

We’re not bypassing the hard parts of being human. We’re not chasing an endless high or trying to stay “up” all the time. What we are doing is gently retraining your thoughts—your relationship with self-worth and your orientation toward possibility—to make space for joy to exist alongside everything else.

When you do that, you build something more durable than happiness. You build contentment.

Contentment is the quiet confidence that you can meet life as it comes.
It’s the steady hum underneath the chaos.
It’s the knowing that joy is available even when it’s not the loudest voice in the room.

Start with one Joy-Maker

Just one. Then try another. Let your nervous system remember what contentment feels like. Not as a fluke… but as something it knows how to return to.

You don’t need to overhaul your life. Just begin. One small joy.