Study: What Makes Us Joyful?

I recently came across this TED Talk by author and designer Ingrid Fetell Lee on what brings people joy. I was struck by her observations that much of our vibrantly colorful visual world around us has the potential to bring instant joy to us (like rainbows, sprinkles, and confetti), yet so many of the environments we construct and choose to work and live our lives within are colorless, personality-less... joyless.

"Deep within us, we all have this impulse to seek out joy in our surroundings. And we have it for a reason. Joy isn't some superfluous extra. It's directly connected to our fundamental instinct for survival. On the most basic level, the drive toward joy is the drive toward life."
- Ingrid Fetell Lee

What about you, do you agree, should we insert more color and vibrancy into our physical environments? It's certainly what I believe and what drives my work, and why a large part of my mission is to work with nursing homes and corporate environments -- I work to make our daily lives more enjoyable.

Please enjoy the expansion of her observations and conclusions in "Where Joy Hides and How to Find It" via TED Talks.

Check out her website with a ton of resources on cultivating joy. And I'd love to read more in her book, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness .

Thank you Ingrid Fetell Lee for your important work on the Aesthetics of Joy!

 Confetti image credit: https://shop.ohhappyday.com/products/best-confetti-ever