TIME magazine has a 2017 article titled 14 Ways to Squeeze More Joy Out of Every Day. Once again, this article uses joy and happy/happiness interchangeably. This doesn’t help with my study. I went to Jstor for some academic research, but I no longer have free access to academic journals. So, since it’s 2023, I turned to Google.
Interestingly the question: what is the difference between happiness and joy? is rooted in religion, at least in my search results. Joy is a term often routed in Christianity and spirituality. Though this is a topic for future musings. Today I wanted to know what others think of the terms.
Here are some of my favorites:
“Joy is an inner feeling. Happiness is an outward expression.” Compassion.com
“Joy is a byproduct of a moral lifestyle.” While “Happiness can be experienced from any good activity, food or company.” Diffen.com. (This is an interesting site, it compares difficult vocabulary.)
“Happiness [is] a feeling based on circumstances. Joy [is] an attitude that defies circumstances.” Lilblueboo.com
“If you are only a taker of happiness you get misery. If you are a giver of happiness, you get joy and love.” Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
One common theme is the inner versus outer notion between the two emotions. On day 2, when I was defining joy, I was considering the notion that joy was a state. Can you live in a constant state of joy?
I think childhood is a constant state of joy. Wonder, curiosity, trying, learning. We have a kindergartener. Apart from the occasional tantrum, her life is joyful. How many times have I sung Jack Be Nimble and then jumped over a crack on the way to the bus stop? A nice little game we invented last September. It is fun to participate in. How do I get that unfettered learning curiosity?