The Joy Restoration Project Begins

Because joy is an inside job.

Kindness is a choice — and so is joy. I’ve spent years watching both ripple through my life in unexpected ways. Today, with The Joy Restoration Project finally coming to life, I’m thrilled to share the journey with you through my first blog.

Kindness Creates Ripples

A beautiful talk by Dr. Wayne Dyer speaks about kindness — how it affects the “doer,” the receiver, and the witness. I love the idea that we head out into the world every day with the ability to blaze a little trail of kindness and create ripple effects all around us.

Here’s the link to Dr. Dyer’s talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tId-PhZmBTc

“Kindness opens the door — and joy walks through it.”

Joy: My Favorite Topic

Now let’s talk about joy — my reason for creating The Joy Restoration Project. I started my joy journey in 2014 and have been honing my skills ever since. Every single day I learn something new about joy — a new noticing, a conversation sparked, a reflection on something that made me smile and actually feel joy.

One of my favorite recent moments came from a class a few weeks ago. I had set the focus by asking, “Where does joy live in your body?” After class, a student told me that question stopped her in her tracks. She said if someone had asked where pain lives or where fear lives, she’d have an answer. But joy? She had never thought about that before. She lit up — and my heart was so full from that conversation.

For some of us, joy seems natural. I feel blessed to say I have always been a joy seeker. But opening up this conversation now, as part of The Joy Restoration Project, has left me in awe of the stories I’ve collected. Book‑worthy? I think so. Maybe that will be the next bucket‑list item to conquer.

Joy in the Words of Others

I remember how much joy The Book of Awesome brought me — 1,000 simple things that were awesome. Such a simple idea, yet it had me adding my own things to the list. Check out a little of author Neil Pasricha’s story here: https://www.neil.blog/our-book-of-awesome-introduction

More recently, Kate Bowler’s Joyful Anyway has had me laughing, crying, and soaking in her joys. Her story is incredible. Her humor, even during her darkest moments, captured my attention and my heart early on. Here’s a conversation with Kate Bowler on Staying Human with Dr. Vivek Murthy: https://open.spotify.com/show/033fvaxSdrVu4bK5HkRY2R?si=97b3bf0d739d4e61

A Community of Joy

So here we are — my first blog as part of The Joy Restoration Project. “Project” because we are all works in progress, with the ability to learn, grow, and find more joy at any age.

Happy joy seeking, and feel free to share your joys with me here. Let’s create a beautiful community of noticing and celebrating joy together.

Until next time, remember: joy is an inside job.

Big love, Elaine