Cultivating Glee: Has Joy Left the Building?

We simply cannot know joy without embracing vulnerability – and the way to do that is to focus on gratitude, not fear.

~Brené Brown

Summing up his status as more than a man but a force of nature, the colloquialism “Elvis has left the building!”  has taken on a life of its own in the 40 years since Presley left the building for good. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, this phrase is often used to emphasize that something is definitely over or that someone has gone and will not return.

Hope for a Brighter Future

In recent years, our 360° Nation Studios enterprise has produced two towering (8-hour) productions, each inspired by a single question –with video responses then solicited from around the world. As the Pandemic despair settled in a few years back and hope was scarce, we reached out with “What Are Your Hopes for the Future?” –ultimately stitching together over 150+ videos received into our HOPEFEST 360° production, capturing over 30,000 YouTube views and countless more directly on our Site and across social media channels. Just over a year later as the gloom started to recede a bit and the future was looking a bit brighter, we reached out again, this time with “What’s In Your Bucket”, again receiving 150+ videos from around the world –all stitched together into our second major production; BUCKETFEST 360°, this time capturing over 40,000 YouTube views and even more directly on our Site and across social media.

What About Joy?

Witnessing the increasing level of gloom and doom around us 2024 arrived, we felt that the time had come for us all to now dig deep to find that special JOY in our lives. So in early January, we reached out across the universe with “What Sparks Your Joy?”. With 2½ months elapsed since asking that question, the response from around the globe has been a resounding “thud” in comparison to our past outreaches above. What happened to our sense of JOY?  While we are so very grateful for the 40+ videos received so far, we know there is much more JOY out there waiting to be discovered.

Whether or not a lack of joy is a widespread phenomenon is debatable, but concerns about declining happiness and well-being in society are certainly valid. It’s important to remember that joy is not a fixed state, but rather something we cultivate. And often, it’s something right in front of us. Joy, like many emotions, comes in many flavors and can be experienced in countless ways:

• The first sip of your favorite coffee on a crisp morning.
• Feeling the warm sun on your skin after a long winter.
• The joy of a child playing with a simple toy.
• Losing yourself in the flow of writing, dancing, or playing an instrument.
• Laughter shared with or the warm embrace of loved ones.
• Deep conversations with friends that leave you feeling understood and supported.
• The feeling of belonging to a community that shares your values.
• Making a positive impact on someone’s life.
• Experiencing shared joy at a concert, sporting event, or cultural celebration.
• Hiking through a majestic forest and feeling connected to nature.
• Watching a breathtaking sunrise or sunset.
• The sound of birds singing and the smell of fresh flowers.

Joy is subjective and unique to each individual. It’s not always about grand experiences but can be found in the small moments. Cultivating gratitude for the things you have can enhance your sense of joy. Being open to new experiences and trying new things can unlock unexpected sources of joy.

Time to Share What Sparks Your Joy?

Let’s dig deeper. We can do better. We can discover more JOY. And when you do, simply click below to add your “spark” of JOY to our production ⤵︎

@JOYFEST 360°

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