World Day of Joy

Joy is an emotion that comes from within, and it consists of a feeling of vitality, happiness and a sense of fulfilment. It is one of a human being’s most common emotions and the opposite is sadness, also one of the most common and actually completely normal feelings, which should not be confused with a depression.

Every emotion, both pleasant and unpleasant, is a part of life and emotions can change quickly. These feelings help you to accept and overcome different kinds of experiences, but the more unpleasant feelings are the ones you learn most from. Today, on the special occasion of the World Day of Joy, this article by ShBarcelona will focus on the pure and positive emotion of feeling joy.

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Celebrate a beautiful human emotion: joy

Joy is one of the most rewarding and beautiful emotions a person can experience. Every August 1 we celebrate World Day of Joy in honour of this emotion. This day was first celebrated in 2010 at the initiative of Alfonso Becerra, who is from Colombia.

The Day of Joy is commemorated in at least fourteen countries all around the world, including in Spain, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Its mission is to make everyone aware on the importance of this feeling, keeping in mind that it plays a big role all throughout life. Besides this, it has magnificent personal development powers.

The origin of World Day of Joy started at the First Congress of Cultural Management in Chile, where Alfonso Becerra presented a project to celebrate the Day of Joy. After establishing that there were many other dates that celebrated historical, political and religious events, he emphasised on the importance of having a special day for joy.

He felt it was best to commemorate this day, in order to always be conscious of this feeling. It is part of everyday life and being aware of the sensation of joy has its benefits and even transformational powers.

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Happiness is a state of mind, that is the result of a favourable event or an inner feeling, that usually manifests by smiling. It creates a sense of happiness and personal well-being. The word joy (alegría in Spanish) comes from the Latin alicer or alecris, which means “alive and well”. Joy is a pure emotion from the depth of your heart. It creates a feeling of calmness, well-being and love.

Researchers Ekman and Friesen have discovered 3 different types of joy. The first type is authentic or heartfelt joy, which comes and goes naturally and spontaneously; the second type is fake joy, where the expression of the feeling does not correspond to the actual way you feel; and the last type is cynical joy, where you use the expression of joy to cover up a different emotion, such as sadness, fear or anger.

If you would like to connect with your true emotions, it is important to fully experience every moment, without thinking too much about the past or the future. This will result in opening up more and more to experience the small pleasures of everyday life. In order to develop feelings of joy, it is important to be more gentle with yourself. Add a bit of curiosity to discover and develop your inner emotions, and jou will feel more joy on the most spontaneous of moments.

Happy World Day of Joy everyone!