About JoyHappens
Origin:
The original concept came to me through a sizeable "ding" in my driver's car door. When I found out that I had a $1000 deductible, I decided not to fix the cosmetic defect, but rather to turn it into something good. Every cloud has a silver lining, eh? Stuff happens...EUREKA!! The phrase "Joy Happens," rather than the common neutral (or another more negative) saying, seemed to be just the positive twist I was looking for. So I painted over my green Honda door the bright yellow letters spelling "Joy Happens" with two smiley faces. When another scrape happened to the right front bumper, I painted a '70's type of flower over it. You may have seen me driving around in Los Angeles or in Austin, TX, where I now reside. The car definitely brings smiles to strangers' faces.
Websites:
I found that both JoyHappens.com and JoyHappens.org were available, so I registered them. I hope that I can start a philosophical movement and even a philanthropic organization whose sole function will be to spread Joy. I hope to design a logo and to sell T-Shirts, bumper stickers, and greeting cards in order to raise funds for spreading Joy.
Twelve Steps:
In an experimental mode one day, I modeled a Twelve-Step plan which is sort of a positive twist to the Twelve Steps of AA.
I dream that people will either go to meetings and share their Joyful ideas and actions with others (Can one be addicted to Joy, and would it become a problem?), or share them online in a forum that I hope to create on this website.
Joyful Action and Blog:
I will begin changing my Joyful Action suggestions and Blogs as soon as I get the website up and running AND have some readership! I plan to focus each week on a different realm of Joyful Actions, and to write a Daily Blog about the specific Joyful Action I did each day. Ideally, a person would focus on the realm and come up with actions all week. I try to make an Action something one could do in ten minutes or less, and leave it up to you to find the time and means. If you do it every day, it will bring you and others more joy, but I am not about laying guilt-I'm sure there will be times when I myself do not do a specific realm-focused Daily Action. However, there are hardly any days where one does not spread a little bit of Joy somewhere, if only one becomes aware of that power!!!