Joy is often seen as a simple, fleeting emotion, but according to psychologist Chris Meadows, it’s far more complex and multi-dimensional.
In his exploration of joy, Meadows identifies different types of joy, each shaped by our experiences, goals, and relationships.
From the serene calm of personal balance to the exhilaration of shared moments, Meadows’ research delves into the many ways joy manifests in our lives, revealing how both our mindset and surroundings play a crucial role in unlocking this powerful emotion.
Here are five tips on how to find what brings you joy in its many forms:
Practice mindful presence:
Joy exists in the present, therefore, we need to be there to experience it. This might mean that sometimes we need to ditch the phone and not video something to post or watch later as doing that prevents us becoming immersed in the here and now. This is about making our own experience more important than the “likes” of others.
Trust your inner voice:
As joy is unique to each of us, we need to hear our own voice to find out what will bring us joy. To do this, it helps to create specificity around the goals that we aspire to in the future so that we are clear about what we want to achieve.
I love the theme tune for 'The Pirates of the Caribbean' and want to be able to play it on the piano. To make this goal specific, I need to decide what my success criteria is. It might be, I want to play to the end without stopping, or I want to get to the end without stopping and to play all of the notes on the sheet music without mistakes. Only I can know whether I would feel more joyful by achieving the second goal over the first.
Being specific means we will clearly know when that goal fulfilment is either imminent or achieved. So, the more specific we are the better. The same goes for looking at the experiences that have brought us joy in the past. By reflecting on these experiences, we can learn things about ourselves that lead to us being able to create more joy.
Silence your inner critic:
It is not possible to be playful and feel safe and free, while we constantly are censoring ourselves. So, tell the inner critic that it is OK for you to be you.
Find your tribe:
These are people who enjoy the same things as you. Being with other people who are like us enables us to feel freer to express ourselves in ways that are congruent with who we are.
Embrace life's small pleasures:
Joy comes from the most unexpected places. By noticing when we feel joy we can create more of those experiences in our lives so that we can truly experience that joie de vivre (the joy of living).