About this episode

This episode explores the concept of joy, its cultivation, and its significance in activism and daily life.

THROWBACK EPISODE: This podcast was first recorded in July 2025 “I will never apologise for embracing joy and beauty - even when the world is falling apart – for joy and beauty are the fuel for my activism”.  These words by Karen Walrond are one of the inspirations for this week’s conversation on 'Joy', exploring how cultivating joy is both a way to resource ourselves and build the resilience needed to meet the challenges of our world. Joy is often seen as being the same thing as happiness, and yet these two emotions are profoundly different; one coming from external sources, one being cultivated from within. It is not a surprise that the practice of joy is embedded into all world religions as it can become a deeply spiritual practice – as well as a beautifully infectious state to find ourselves in. In this week's conversation we dive into the meaning of joy, how it shows up in our lives; how activists across history have cultivated joy in their lives and work and what happens when we learn to practice joy as part of our daily rhythms. In this episode we reference the following: Mission: Joy – Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu (video) Habits for practising joy - ThoughtBox (PDF)…

People in this episode

Host: Rachel

Topics covered

• joy
• resilience
• activism
• spirituality
• emotions
• cultivation

Keywords

• joy
• happiness
• resilience
• activism
• spiritual practice
• emotions
• cultivation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: On Being, Climate Majority Project

Books & works: Mission: Joy, Habits for practising joy, Seeking Language Large Enough, Joy Over Fear, Schools of Dreams, The Fun Habit, Glorious

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