A Powerful Journaling Practice to Boost Joy

Has your joy been in short supply lately? You're not alone! Here's a simple, yet powerful journaling practice that can help you cultivate more joy in your life and make it a priority.

These days especially in a world literally and metaphorically on fire, joy is in short supply.

If your spark could use some additional fuel, I encourage you to peruse 10 Ways to Feel More Joy Today, a list I've compiled of small, science-backed efforts that can have a huge impact on the light we feel each day. I know they work...because I've used and benefitted from them all!

Two of my favorite practices from the list, and also some of the most powerful in my experience, are what I call "Joy Mining" and "Joy Dates."

Joy Mining is a journaling practice in which you write down things that have sparked, now spark, and could possibly spark light. It helps you see areas, activities, people and so on that are already in your life bringing you joy. And also what your soul might be hungering to revisit or try...like that painting practice you loved as a kid, or that photography class you've always wanted to take!

The practice itself can be useful in helping you better see your joy ecosystem and what's working and how it could shift for the better...

But what really makes it work is using your lists to actually book Joy Dates on your calendar!

In her legendary creativity jumpstart guide, “The Artist’s Way,” Julia Cameron preaches a similar tool she calls Artist’s Dates. She describes these as a way to maintain a positive “artistic ecosystem.” She writes, “If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked.” She believes that Artist’s Dates, then, “fill the well.”

The same is true of joy. In order to feel and share more of it in our lives, we need to better

attune to it, and better fuel it. Even if we’re busy, just a few minutes a day or even a half hour or hour each week of really intentional joy-creation can work wonders.

Joy Dates are enjoyable in and of themselves. but research like Samuel Monfort, Hannah

Stroup, Christian Waugh’s study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2014, shows that simply anticipating a positive event, even a really small one, can boost mood, lower stress and increase our resilience. (Here’s another GREAT article in VICE about this effect!)

So let’s plant some seeds and look forward to harvesting more joy! Grab your pen and find a

comfortable place to sit and write.

1. What brings you the most joy in your current life? People, activities, places, objects,

self-care tools, let your imagination go. (If this is challenging, try keeping a "Joy Journal" for a week, in which you write down 3 joys you experience each day...and look at the patterns and what stands out to you!)

2. Is there anything that used to bring you joy that you'd like to reconnect with?

Something you haven’t done in forever but just LOVE, an activity, a music artist whose

songs take you back, a joyful place, whatever comes to mind. (Maybe looking through a

photo album or speaking with a longtime friend could help jog your memory.)

3. What potential joys have you not yet tapped into? Places you’ve always wanted to go, a

museum, a workshop/class you could take, someone you’d like to meet, a hobby to explore.

(If you need ideas, you might take yourself to a bookstore and meander around the magazine or hobby aisle, flipping through any material that grabs your attention. Or browse your local paper’s online events listings or Meetup for activity ideas. What lights you up?)

4. With these lists in mind, create a list of joy dates you can take yourself on. These don’t

have to require going anywhere–they could be splurging on a new herbal tea and savoring it,

doing a short YouTube tutorial, chatting with a friend who always makes you laugh.

Five things that take just 5-10 mins that would light you up:.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Five things that could take just 30-60 minutes that would light you up:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Five things that could take more than an hour (e.g. an afternoon, an evening, a day, etc.):

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

5. BOOK A DATE! Take yourself on a short joy date today if possible–otherwise, put one on

the calendar for tomorrow. See if you move through your whole list of 5 short joy dates and

one medium or longer joy date this week. (And can you add a longer joy date on your

calendar every month coming up?)

If you feel short on time, remember these DON’T have to be long. They could literally just be 5 minutes a day.

And as you go, you might jot down some notes as you go about how this is feeling. What’s it like when you make JOY a priority? How do these specific joys feel for you, and are they causing any shifts? Do these bring to mind other joys you haven’t listed yet but would like to lean into?

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Did you find this practice helpful? Let me know via the form below or DM me on Instagram!

FREE/BY-DONATION MONTHLY JOYFUL DANCE ONLINE!

If you're looking for more joy-boosting practices, I also offer a monthly Joyful Dance practice that's free/by-donation on the Insight Timer app! Just create a free account and tune in via the link here.

MY JOY-BOOSTING AUDIO COURSE

My "4 Weeks to More Joy!" audio course is also available to all Insight Timer Premium Members, and is available for purchase a la carte in my On-Demand Library. It's a collection of some of the MOST effective joy-boosting techniques I've found, including building joy through mindfulness, meditation, journaling, joyful movement and more!

© 2025 by Jenny Mayo Mind & Movement.