Everyday Joy
Finding Magic in the Ordinary
A few days ago, I felt discouraged. Tired. Cranky. Stuck.
The kind of day where your head hurts and your spirit feels like it’s trying to shrink itself just to get through the next few hours. You’re functioning. You’re checking boxes. But emotionally? You’re running on fumes.
And somewhere in that mess, I remembered something I’ve had to re-learn over and over again:
Joy doesn’t always arrive with a spotlight.
Sometimes it shows up as the one good moment in an otherwise forgettable day.
We think joy is this big, cinematic moment. But I’ve come to realize that the most sustaining joy—the kind that keeps you anchored when the world is spinning—is quiet, unassuming, and often easy to overlook.
We’re Taught to Look for Big Joy
Think about it. When someone asks, “Are you happy?”, what do you instinctively scan your life for?
A milestone. A finish line. A glowing highlight reel.
We grow up with the idea that joy is a reward—something you get after you’ve hustled, healed, or “earned it.” We wait for the vacation. The job change. The life reset. We treat joy like the final step in a checklist.
But real life?
It’s not that curated. It’s messy, loud, repetitive, and sometimes boring.
It’s dishes in the sink, reheated leftovers, cats puking on the rug, and texts you forgot to answer three days ago.
So if we only allow ourselves to feel joy when things are picture-perfect… how often are we really feeling it?
Be honest. I’ll wait.
The Magic Is Already Here (You Just Forgot How to Look)
I’m not saying you need to “look on the bright side” of everything. Toxic positivity can take a hike.
But I am saying that joy is often sitting right beside us, quietly waiting to be acknowledged.
It’s in the tiny moments I used to gloss over:
The smell of oatmilk frothing just right.
My cats curled into crescent moons on the couch.
The feeling of finally closing all the tabs on my browser—and my brain.
A soft breeze coming through the window and brushing against my shoulder like a permission slip to breathe.
None of these moments fix the hard stuff.
But they remind me that I’m still here. And that life is still mine—even when it feels like it’s someone else’s.
You Don’t Have to Earn Joy
Joy is not a prize for productivity. It’s not something you unlock only after you've pushed yourself to the brink.
But most of us (especially women) have been conditioned to think we need to deserve rest… or earn ease… or perform our way into happiness.
This mindset is so common it starts to feel normal.
We wait to feel joy until the house is clean, the inbox is clear, the scale goes down, the relationship improves, the thing we’re chasing finally lands.
But what if that’s backward?
What if joy isn’t something you arrive at, but something you collect along the way?
When You’re Tired, Let Joy Carry You
I used to think I needed to “get it together” before I could enjoy anything. But lately? I’ve been letting joy hold me.
Not in some dreamy, aesthetic way.
I mean the joy of:
Saying “nope” to something that drains me and feeling peace instead of guilt.
Laughing at a dumb meme even though I’m still stressed.
Feeling the sun on my skin for 30 seconds and letting that be enough for the day.
Sometimes joy doesn’t fix anything. But it helps you get through it.
It doesn’t erase the overwhelm, but it gives you a breath in the middle of it.
Let Joy Be Enough - for Now
You don’t have to fix everything today.
You don’t have to feel inspired or grateful or energized.
But you do deserve to feel something good—without waiting for a special occasion.
And if today you’re just surviving…
If your to-do list is long, your heart feels heavy, and your body is tired?
Let joy sneak in anyway.
Let it find you in the smallest crack of light.
Let it remind you:
You’re still here.
You’re still worthy.
And even now, there is still something beautiful about your life.
“Joy expands when it’s acknowledged. Even if it starts as a whisper.”
