Joyful Living: Episode 11

Welcome to Episode 11 of The Tortoise, the podcast (plodcast!) that digs deep into the possibilities of slow.

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The Topic: Joyful Living

For the past few years, like many other people, I’ve chosen a word or phrase as a guiding principle for the year ahead. Last year it was “1%” and in previous years it’s been words including “health”, “create” and “patience”.

I like to have a touchstone for the year, but am always surprised at what form it takes as the months go on. Last year’s theme of 1% lead me to actually let go of a lot of things — expectations, standards, goals — as I focused more on consistent, tiny efforts.

This year, my word is Joy. It came about towards the end of last year, when so many of us were feeling despondent at the state of the world, and instead of giving over to it for too long, I asked myself:

"What’s stopping us from creating joy? Giving it? Pulling it out of thin air and depositing it into the world?”

And since then, it has sat at the back of my head, slowly infusing into my thoughts, actions and attitudes. I think it’s currently at the stage where I can feel the difference but no-one else has really noticed, and that’s okay. Change takes time.

Today’s episode is all about joyful living. What it is, what it isn’t, how to get more of it and how it differs from happiness.

I love this conversation. It didn’t go anywhere I expected it to, but that’s what makes some of my favourite conversations with Ben so fun. This is no exception.

Throughout the episode, we talk about:

• the definition of joy, and why it means so many different things to so many different people

• why much of the literature around joy is religious

• how joy differs from happiness and how it is similar — plus, the emotional snobbery that comes into the conversation when we try to differentiate between the two

• why I believe you can’t experience joy without happiness and why I think happiness acts as a training ground for joy

• the role that alcohol has on our ability to experience happiness and joy (and how my experience has changed since I stopped drinking)

• how to adopt a lens of joy and happiness to life when you’re not a joyful person by default

• why choosing joy is a revolutionary act

• what the difference is between choosing joy and toxic positivity

• how we can add more joy to our lives

It’s a conversation that meanders and circles round, asking questions, offering possible answers, and ultimately ending in an intention to simply keep cultivating joy, as an act of rebellion and delight.

We also talk a little about Ben’s 4-day work week experiment (it’s back for another try this year), as well as the larger movement towards flexible working arrangements. Will it be any more realistic this year? Here’s hoping!

The Links

Below is a list of links discussed in today’s episode. If I’ve forgotten any, please let me know in the comments:

• Looking Forward / More Joy

• Happiness vs Joy — Diffen.com

• What is the difference between joy and happiness? — Christianity.com

• How can you find joy (or at least peace) during difficult times? — Harvard Medical School

• The Duchenne Smile — New Scientist

• Joy is good for your body and your mind — Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

• Join The Tortoise community on Substack

• Subscribe to the podcast in your favourite app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc)

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Thanks so much for tuning in. And here’s to more joy this month.

Brooke 💚💚