Keep a joy journal
Record your joyful experiences to boost your mood now and in the future.
Feeling joy is good for you and not just because you feel happy in the moment. You can save it up and use it again.
Why is joy important?
When you feel joyful you’re in a positive mood, which helps you to deal with challenges and solve problems. Chartered psychologist (expert in thoughts and feelings) Suzy Reading says experiencing joy is good for your health. “It boosts your immune system, protecting you from illness, and it reduces pain, worry and stress, helping you sleep.” The joy you feel doesn’t only benefit you, the people around you gain from it too because joy is contagious (easily spread). Scientists have found that your joy can rub off on your family and friends
– and even the people they spend time with.
What is a joy journal?
A joy journal is a special place for you to record anything and everything that brings you joy – what you like, what and who you appreciate, what makes you laugh and feel happy. It’s your journal, so you can include whatever you like in it. Taking time to make a note of what’s giving you joy helps you focus on that experience and draw even more happiness from it. Reading explains, “By recording your joyful moments you can return to them whenever you need a little boost and relive them in the future.”
How to keep a joy journal
Choose a notebook and decorate the cover.
It is up to you how often you add to it – perhaps every day after school or only at weekends. You can keep all your joyful things together or divide your journal into areas such as family, friends, school and hobbies. How do you best express yourself? You could write, draw, use colourful pens and stick things in. Write lists of your favourite things: your favourite foods, perhaps, or TV shows or animals, and what you like about them. You can record a moment from each day that gave you joy: who was there, what happened, what you could see, hear and smell. This will help you feel the joy again and remember it more easily. You could make a joy journal with your family too, to record what makes you all happy.