Dear College of Education Community,
As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, we may think about joy and happiness with others, but what does this really mean and how do we know we have it? Joy is “an enduring and underlying sense of something that is deeper than the emotion of happiness,” according to researcher Dr. Pamela King, Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Science at the Thrive Center for Human Development in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. “A helpful way of thinking about joy is understanding what matters most in human life.” Dr. King’s research has identified three areas that deeply inform joy. They are
(1) growing in authenticity and living more into one’s strengths
(2) growing in depth of relationships and contributing to others
(3) living more aligned with one’s ethical and spiritual ideals.
According to Dr. King, “one is able to live a strength-based life, reciprocate relationships with others, and live with moral coherency, the more joy one will experience in life. This suggests that joy is not just an individual pursuit, but one that deeply involves our connections with others. We can discover and experience joy in a variety of ways—doing those things we love to do, growing in intimacy or providing for others, and clarifying and coherently pursuing our values. When these domains of the self, others, and values overlap, that is perhaps when we experience the most joy.”
To read more, go to
For a list of other self-care options, please go to our COE self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community at https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care
May w all experience true joy this Valentine’s Day and every day!
Warmly,
Shari