Guest Blog: Top 3 Tips for Joy Spotting
I’m really excited for this month’s guest blog post. A great friend and all around rockstar, Sheila Kennedy, wrote this post with a focus on joy spotting. I’m sure you’re seeing all of the articles about educators fleeing the field and feeling the stress yourself. Times are challenging to say the least and right about now I know I could definitely use some positivity. What I find most impressive is that all of this is backed in science and research - meaning it isn’t “fluff.” These easy to implement practices will truly make a difference in how you feel and how you interact with the world around you.
Top 3 Tips for Joy Spotting
by Sheila Kennedy
Joy may only be a three letter word but don’t let the small size fool you into thinking it isn’t powerful! Joy is defined as an intense, momentary experience when you feel just a bit more alive; an experience of both your mind and body. Joy is one of the many positive emotions associated with happiness. It can also be experienced anywhere, at any time.
Through the work of researchers such as Barbara Fredrickson and Sonja Lyubomirsky, we know that increases in our positive emotions are associated with an improvement in our overall well-being. When we are experiencing emotions such as love, hope, and joy, we also enjoy the many benefits they provide - we are more productive, more resilient, more connected to the people around us, and less stressed.
Joy is all around you. Joy spotting involves bringing an awareness to the joy in your surroundings. Once you are mindful of what sparks feelings of joy for you, you can then choose to be more intentional in spotting moments of it in your daily life. Just as no one else is exactly like you, what sparks joy for you will not necessarily be the same as what ignites joy in someone else. Despite individual differences and preferences, try out these three tips I put together to get you started on your journey to joy spotting:
Tip #1 - Heighten Your Awareness
A great way to bring awareness to what elicits joy for you is to tap into your 5 Senses. Take some time to think about and reflect on what brings you feelings of joy. Ask yourself… What makes me come alive? Where are my happy places? Who makes me smile or laugh? What types of activities or locations cause me to lose track of time and just “be” in the moment?
Some considerations include:
Sight - colors, shapes, scenery, objects, people, places, animals
Smell - scents of perfumes, candles, flowers, foods, places in nature, objects (if you’re a teacher you know the joy that comes from the scent of a newly opened box of crayons)
Taste - types of food…spicy, salty, or sweet? Drinks…water, tea, coffee?
Touch - textures, a massage, petting an animal
Hear - music, voices of loved ones, sounds in nature, laughter
Tip #2 - Take Action
Once you recognize what elicits joy for you through your senses, be intentional about uncovering more of it in your daily life. Remember - what you focus on, grows stronger; the more you focus on joy, the more it will show up for you! Taking action involves both being mindful of your surroundings along with slowing down to savor the moments when they arise. It also includes planning time to create more joyful moments; schedule time to experience some of the things you identified in tip #1. Maybe it is something as simple as taking a five minute walk outdoors to feel sunshine on your face, lingering over a cup of coffee in the morning, or calling a friend you have not spoken to in a while. Whether it is daily, weekly, or monthly, set aside time for joy experiences - both the big and little things you can do to experience more joy.
Tip #3 - Acknowledge It
When you do spot joy, be sure to not only experience it, but also acknowledge it. This can be done mentally, by taking a picture, or sharing the experience with others. By making a mental note of a joy spot, you are priming the brain of its importance and establishing the foundation of the practice to become a habit. Capturing a joy spot using your phone’s camera is my go-to strategy (I even created a “joy spotting” album to store all of the moments). Taking and storing photos of joy offers an additional benefit, the feel good practice of reminiscing, since it allows you to go back and review the experiences over and over again. Another option for acknowledging joy is by sharing the joy you have experienced with others. This could look like a conversation over dinner, sending a text to someone about the experience (bonus points if you include a picture too), or posting about it on social media-check out the #joyspotting movement started by joy researcher Ingrid Fetell Lee. It could also be as simple as commenting to someone nearby. In addition to the personal benefits joy spotting provides, when you take the extra step of sharing it, it creates a ripple effect of joy for others to enjoy as well.
During difficult or stressful times joy may seem unlikely and the last thing you have time for…it is during those exact times when joy is a necessity. Joy replenishes your soul and is a source of resilience. It is what helps get you through the tough times while keeping hope alive.
Be Positively Connected
If you are interested in being connected to more ways to cultivate joy, along with other well-being tips and strategies, be sure to visit www.bepositivelyconnected.com. You can also connect with Sheila directly on Instagram @positively.sheila or Twitter @4sheilak.
