On the Necessity of Joy

Written Jan 29 2026

I think that joy can be misunderstood and misconstrued.

You might be afraid that feeling joyful is not honoring the truth of your grief or rage. You might think that joy is inaccessible right now in the face of overwhelming injustice and oppression. You might think that there is no time or space for joy in the movement for collective liberation. You might even feel that joy is selfish, in the face of so much collective loss and harm.

But joy isn’t a permanent state of happiness, or a care-free feeling like we’ve got no problems in our lives.

Cultivating joy is a choice to notice the many moments that are already happening all around us — moments that bring up in us a sense of connection, wonder, love, awe, and gratitude.

We have a lot of fucking problems. We are rightfully enraged, afraid, and grieving. And none of this is changing any time soon. And friends, it is very easy to find many reasons NOT to be joyful. And, it is now, in the depths of the dark collective winter when joy might feel very far away that we need it more than ever. For we lose so much when we sever our connection to our joy.

This essay is a reminder that cultivating joy in our lives doesn’t have to be this grand, expansive and unreachable thing. Joy can, and does, show up in the littlest of moments.

Joy, today for you, can be as simple as noticing a dandelion blooming in winter on a sunny day. Savoring in the taste of your favorite tea in the morning. Petting your cat and hearing their purr and feeling their love. Deeply taking in the colors of the sunset. The rush of warmth in your chest when you get a kind text from a friend.

It is in the little moments that might otherwise pass us by if we do not choose to place our focus on them.

And when we choose to notice and lift up our joys, it does not mean that we are pushing away or hiding from our rage, despair, and fear. It does not mean that we are abandoning the many ways that we are called to act for justice and life.

We find the opposite to be true. In cultivating our joy, we strengthen our capacity to take courageous action.

We learn to see the simultaneous beauties and horrors of life and are better able to hold this paradox. We strengthen our internal muscle for holding complexity, nuance and difficulty. Our nervous systems and our hearts are reinforced by joy, and we become less likely to be frozen in fear, lost in anger, or numbly disassociate. And all of this enables us to show up in our action for good with greater power.

Joy is our birthright.

Joy will nourish and sustain us.

Joy will seed new worlds.

No one can be joyful for you but you.

May your joy be like a balm for your aching heart, and inspire you to new levels of courageous action.