Weekly Reflections

THE JOY JAR
By Kirsten Murphy - Teacher, Glowmundo SEL Teacher Coach

A few years ago, my wife and I got a great idea from friends of ours to start a Joy Jar. We found a glass jar and set it on a shelf in our living room. Near it in a drawer we have a colorful notepad and a pen. Whenever one of us experiences joy (big or small) we write it down along with the date and drop it into the jar. Sometimes we add a little drawing to seal the memory or a few details about what happened that day to spark joy. Either way, it is short and sweet: just enough to fit on the small notepad page.

We collect these joys all year. Each of us adding notes along the way. Finally, on New Years Day, we sit together with the jar and read each note out loud. Reading the joys throughout the previous year brings back so many wonderful memories from the last 12 months. Some of the joys are new to me as it was something only my wife experienced. But that brings a whole new feeling of happiness as I share in her joy from months ago that maybe I didn’t even know about.

In this new normal we now find ourselves in, it is so important to continue to find joy in your daily life. It could be as small as the sunlight pouring in through your windows or listening to the birds sing in the mornings. It could be as big as connecting again with a loved one, tackling that home project that you’ve been putting off, or teaching yourself something new. 

The Joy Jar’s purpose is to bring awareness to the times in your day where the light shines in. Those things that bring that spontaneous smile to your face and allow you to forget the bad news…if only for a moment. Cultivating joy and bringing it to the forefront of our minds is something that is necessary for our well-being and inner calm. Noticing what uplifts you and makes you smile will help you invite more of that into your days and your life. 

Make your Joy Jar routine your own! Share it with your spouse or your children at a set time each week or at a time where you can come together as a family. Share joys online with a friend or family member who is far away. Who knows? Doing this might even inspire them to create their own Joy Jar and cultivate that feeling of inner wonder and bliss as well.

What I have found after having our Joy Jar for a few years is that the most important things I write down and cherish are the little things. The daily small moments that lift me up and keep me going no matter what. Being aware of those in my life is an amazing joy all by itself.