Season of Joy

For many of us, this is a special time of the year. So much so that we think of it as a season of joy because joy involves changing how we engage in the world. Colors seem brighter, physical movements feel freer and easier, and smiling happens involuntarily. We even experience changes in our thinking and attention, which opens us up to creativity and the ability to solve complex problems. In other words, joy feels bright and light. We have a playful orientation to the world, even in our work. We feel we can do anything. Many researchers suggest that joy resembles Maslow’s 1964 concept of peak experiences.

Joy Involves Being with Others

A 2012 study examined peak experiences by asking middle-aged Americans to reflect on a recent joyful experience. The researchers found that joy was most experienced with loved ones, concluding that joy is most often experienced socially (Hoffman et al., 2012). This finding is consistent with other studies that show that being in the company of loved ones creates an environment of emotional safety, enabling feelings of freedom and playfulness. This finding was also seen during the pandemic, where older adults reported that family and friends were the most frequently reported source of joy (Whitehead & Torossian, 2021).

What Elicits Joy

Most research on joy concludes that the object of joy is always personally meaningful and important to the individual (Chauhan et al., 2020). In other words, the experience of joy relies greatly upon the subjective individual interpretation. Furthermore, studies show that feelings of joy are sometimes short-lived, such as seeing your favorite performer or spending time with friends. Other experiences of joy were long-lasting, such as changing careers or giving birth. When the object of joy was short-lived, people described joy as an intense and consuming feeling of positivity. In those moments of joy, any unpleasantness or worry disappeared. Similarly, when the object of joy was long-lived, people described an intense feeling of positivity. Still, these experiences differed in that joy was directed toward hopefulness for the future instead of being solely focused on positive feelings of the moment (Chauhan et al., 2020).

What Does Joy Look Like
Most studies show that experiences of joy also heightened awareness and fulfillment and are often accompanied by spontaneous, playful movements such as laughing, dancing, and/or clapping (Chauhan et al., 2020; Cottrell, 2016). Even if people aren’t jumping, clapping, or tapping a foot, they feel animated and lively. People also describe experiencing an all-encompassing feeling of positivity and goodness, with a profound sense of freedom. When joy was long-lasting, people described a willful loss of control, often as a sense of going with the flow and trusting the nature of what happens in their lives (Chauhan et al., 2020). In these cases, the desire to move freely was about letting go of worries and allowing themselves to be open to opportunities.

Over the next week, consider these three questions:

• Were there times this week, because of feelings of joy, that I felt time seemed to fly by? What was the object of my joy?
• Did something happen this week that made me feel like celebrating?
• Did my life go well this week? If so, why?

As you consider these questions, please accept that there is no one, right answer to these questions. Our lives are constantly changing. These questions are intended to help you become aware of the joy that fills our everyday lives.

References
Chauhan, P. H., Leeming, D., & King, N. (2020). A hermeneutic phenomenological exploration of feeling joyful. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 99-106.
Cottrell, L. (2016). Joy and happiness: A simultaneous and evolutionary concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(7), 1506-1517.
Holmes, M. (2015). Review of the book Emotions and social relations, by I. Burkitt. Information, Communication & Society, 18(12), 1430-1433.
Whitehead, B. R., & Torossian, E. (2021). Older adults’ experience of the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods analysis of stresses and joys. The Gerontologist, 61(1), 36-47.