These are difficult times in which you allow yourself access to, and experience joy. You know the list: Social, political, and economic instability and polarization, regressive policies and orders, accelerating global warming and ecological changes, pandemics and health scares, wars and genocide, people being moved against their will, entrenched structural oppression, fear-mongering. Personal tragedies, daily work hassles, everyday discrimination.  

Joy? How could we even?

And yet, in the middle of all of it, people still can and do access and experience joy. Joy is a deep internal state in which we experience elation and fullness. It is not tied to external factors, as is its less intense cousin, happiness. Joy is linked to a host of positive outcomes for our psychological and physical well-being; joy is a healing force.

Helen Neville, nationally recognized scholar and activist, says “… joy serves as a vital force for resilience. It transcends mere emotion, acting as an essential action that humanizes us in the face of dehumanization. For marginalized communities, particularly POC, acknowledging joy is crucial to countering historical narratives that prioritize pathology over strength.”

Neville (2024) identifies five components to joy, including:

• Deep connection – psychological and/or spiritual closeness with others. Joy and the healing it brings always takes place in a relational context.
• Existential Recognition – being known and seen for who you truly are
• Flow – just being in the moment, not wishing or wanting to be anywhere else, or doing anything else. We often experience flow when we are dancing or playing music (or engaging in other arts), playing, or celebrating with those people closest to us.  
• Shared Beliefs and Values – Joy is more likely to be experienced when we can spend time in community with like-minded others, who provide essential support and spaces which allow the expression of joy.
• Radical Hope – again in Neville’s own words, radical hope is “…the belief that through personal and collective agency, positive societal change can be achieved.”

Embracing your identities may be key to joy. Research by Flynn et al. (2024) with queer and transgender youth emphasizes that social connections which specifically are identity-affirming are important for resilience and joy.

Sounds great. But I’m having trouble getting there…

It can be hard to allow joy into our lives. Several factors can play into our struggle for joy and help us understand why we may even push it away at times. While as individuals, we often can’t control the big external systems and structures that impact us, we can learn to attend effectively to our own internal world, and this is key to access and experience joy.

For example, McDonald (2023) discusses that we may avoid joy because we are too busy scanning the world for threats. We may have developed a habit of numbing our negative emotions but in the process, we end up tuning out all emotion. Or we may be scared to lean into joy because we are afraid we will lose it. Or it will be gone too soon. Guilt, shame, or a sense that we are not worthy enough can also keep us from joy. We may have internalized cultural messages that tell us we are not allowed our own joy until others around us are happy. Previous trauma/history of childhood unhappiness can make these barriers to joy more entrenched. Perfectionism can also get in the way (Joshanloo, 2023).

What can I do?

• Connect with your people. Whether family, friends, or community members – find those folks with whom you share the most important aspects of yourself, be that your worldviews, your shared cultural traditions and experiences, your spirituality, or any other meaningful identities you may hold. Get together and hang out for a little while.
• Recognize you deserve joy. Actively practice challenging the negative beliefs you hold that keep joy at arm’s length
• Practice gratitude and mindfulness. Taking a few minutes to acknowledge what you are grateful for each day to observe the small beauties around you.

We can Help

If you would like to expand your capacity for joy, please reach out to a trusted mental health professional for a brief consultation or to set up an appointment.

Click here to visit our Contact page and get in touch with one of our therapists!

References

Flynn, S. S., Touhey, S., Sullivan, T. R., & Mereish, E. H. (2024). Queer and transgender joy: A daily diary qualitative study of positive identity factors among sexual and gender minority adolescents. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000733

Joshanloo, M. (2023). Predictors of aversion to happiness: New insights from a multi-national study. Motivation and Emotion, 47(3), 423-430.

McDonald, M. K. (2023, Aug. 29). Seven reasons you might avoid joy. Psychology Today.

Neville, H. A. (2024). Justice & joy: Transforming healing praxis in counseling psychology and beyond. The Counseling Psychologist, 52(8),1372-1396. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000241298715