National Day of Joy

All, Navigating Life

by Tori Roalef
June 24, 2025

When the weekend hits, then I'll be happy. When I finally land my dream job, start a family, or my dream home, then I'll be happy.
Once this stress is gone, then I'll be happy.

Notice a pattern? We often wait for change to happen to us before we allow ourselves to be happy, as though happiness is something that happens to you.

What if happiness is something you do—something you create?

The Idea of the Week

Tomorrow, June 25, 2025, is the National Day of Joy. This day is dedicated to enjoying the everyday moments. When we get too caught up in stress or work or the overwhelming chaos of life, finding joy is difficult.

Well, Katarina Blom offers a different perspective in this 15-minute TED Talk: You Don’t Find Happiness, You Create It. Katarina suggests that the key to happiness is about creating positive action.

The thing is, the brain has a tendency to notice the negative things in life, to weigh these negative experiences more heavily than the positive experiences. By practicing positive action, you will create more space in your life to invite in the joyful everyday moments.

“Happiness is not something you find outside of yourself, and it’s not something you have or don’t have. It’s a skill.”

The Practice of the Week

Katarina suggests this practice: Take out your phone and send a gratitude text to a loved one.

Practicing these moments of joy and gratitude is like your psychological gym: you are training your mind to cultivate happiness and find joyful moments just as you would go to the gym to build your strength or stamina.

Other practices to build this skill include:

Keep a gratitude journal.

At the end of each day, write three things you enjoyed or are grateful for. You do not have to house it in a fancy journal if that does not feel good or sustainable to you, or if it feels too overwhelming.

Alternative platforms you can use to write your 3 moments of joy include:

Sticky note that you post to a wall, board, or keep in a box.
Index cards.
Type it in your Notes app.
Email it to yourself, or combine it with the option below and send the email to a loved one.
Use a voice memo or make a video/audio clip.

Set an intention

At the beginning of the day, set an intention to find joy. For instance, “I choose to move joyfully through the world.” You may also pair an intention with your EFT Tapping practice (Grab your free EFT Tapping guide here!)

Make a mission out of it. What joy will you find today? Invite your loved ones on this mission. At the end of the day, invite your loved ones to share their moment of joy with each other. Share over dinner, text in a group chat, or write a sticky note to leave on one another’s door.