Happiness vs. Joy
We often use happy and joy interchangeably, but they aren’t the same. At least not to me.
Happiness is often tied to external circumstances: a delicious meal, a compliment, a win at work, or a fun trip. It feels wonderful, but it tends to come and go quickly. Happiness lifts us in a moment, but it doesn’t always stay.
Joy is different.
Joy is rooted in meaning, alignment, and presence. It’s the place you carve out for yourself where you are safe to be exactly as you are. Joy is what we experience when we live in alignment with our values. When we feel grounded, present, and connected to something bigger than the moment.
Losing My Center
Burnout has a way of pulling you away from who you really are. Unfortunately, I know this firsthand.
In the constant striving, busyness, and “doing,” I lost touch with my own center.
From the outside, things may have looked fine, but inside, I felt disconnected. I had built a life around goals and achievements, but I was no longer doing work that nourished me.
It took my position being eliminated for me to truly slow down, step back, and listen inward. To realize that joy had quietly slipped out of reach. Not because it was gone, but because I wasn’t creating space for it.
Writing as a Way Back
One of the practices I had abandoned in all that busyness was writing. Journaling. Capturing my feelings, thoughts, and dreams somewhere.
For me, writing was a way to process emotions. To make sense of experiences. To reconnect with myself. Letting it go was one of the quietest, yet most significant, ways I lost touch with joy.
So now, picking up the pen (or more often, the keyboard) feels like a homecoming. Writing reminds me of who I am when I slow down, when I listen, when I create space for reflection.
Serendipity. The invitation to contribute a chapter to Joy Unleashed: The Ultimate Guide to Living Your Best Life. This collaborative project brought together diverse voices on what it truly means to live with joy. The timing, the topic, and the opportunity all aligned in a way I couldn’t have planned, but deeply needed. This feels both unexpected and profoundly full-circle.
The Deeper Work of Joy
As I’ve navigated back from burnout, I’ve learned that joy isn’t about chasing highs or waiting for perfect circumstances. It’s about designing a life that sustains us. It’s about choosing alignment over achievement, presence over productivity, meaning over momentary highs.
Happiness will come and go, but joy is the foundation we can return to again and again.
An Invitation
For me, this season is about coming back. Back to writing, back to presence, back to myself.
My hope is that, in sharing, I can help you find your own way home too.