Joy versus Happiness

What is happiness, and were does it come from? Happiness comes from joy, an almost intangible emotional experience. People relate it to soap bubbles, rainbows, butterflies, ice cones with sprinkles, hot air balloons, round and colorful things … The words of happiness and joy are often used interchangeably, though happiness and joy are very different.

Joy is an intense experience of positive emotions

It makes you want to jump up and down and it really only lasts a moment, though we really want to live there for good. Everyone has a different perception of joy, yet how people describe joy is still universal.

Joy makes you feel alive. Beginning with the senses, joy measures how good someone feels in a specific situation and time. It is closely associated with aesthetics. Being in Flow is joyful for most people, because they are more creative, or more productive, but they certainly do not worry and reflect in the moment that they completely immerse in.

Joy over time leads to happiness

Science has shown that happier people live longer and healthier, so why do people still frown when someone says: “I want to be happy”?

The actual meaning of happiness is often under estimated. If it describes, how good we feel over a longer time period, one of the main goals should be to spark as much joy, as possible, knowing that this will bring more happiness into our existence. But we don’t. The search for happiness without investing into joy is like looking for a water drop in an ocean of tears: impossible.

Designer Ingrid Fetell Lee dedicates her life to the aesthetics of joy. In her TED Talk, that has been viewed millions of times, she explains where joy hides and how to find more of it: