Mission Joy

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 By: Jayla Balderas & Madeleine Klopp

Website: https://missionjoy.org/

Mission Joy is a website that shares the wisdom of two leaders: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They have a great documentary on Netflix and the website expands and reiterates what is shared in the documentary. The goal and mission of the Documentary & Website are to share the methods to boost and create sustainable joy in your life. 


 The website has a section on the Science behind happiness. Mission Joy defines Joy as happiness with a purpose. There are two types of joy: 

  1. Hedonistic happiness 

A type of joy that does not last long and only focuses on emotions we think of as positive. In other words Hedonistic happiness attempts to maximize pleasure and minimize displeasure, which is not sustainable because we are humans who will face both negative and positive emotions. 

  1. Eudaimonic happiness

This type of joy embodies and focuses on personal growth and acceptance, which is a more sustainable type of happiness 

The website turns to neuroscience and psychology to provide solutions to boost our joy levels. They present us with four methods for a more self-fulfilling and happier life. 

  1. Kindness: doing one kind thing for someone every day. Science shows that being kind and doing acts of kindness can boost the serotonin levels in your brain. 

  2. Gratitude: create a list of things you are grateful for which can decrease feelings of sadness.  

  3. Reframing: If you are facing problems in your life, seeking a positive side or outlook which can make you more resilient during hard times.  

  4. Connections: Making human connections such as doing something small such as sending a text or spending time with friends and family. Science shows that creating and engaging with human connections can boost our mental health. 


The website also talks about the benefits of happiness which can be seen below. 


Sending messages - With the big joy project, you can send a message to both


The Big Joy Project - The big joy project is the largest-ever citizen science project on JOY. The big joy project works by having people put in their email, and will then be given micro actions to complete everyday for a week, plus a bonus day on the day you sign up. Each activity only takes a few minutes, the activities could be watching a video, making a list, or a small real world activity. You’ll be given a check in every morning around 8am in the morning and 6pm at night. Afterwards, at the end of the week, your given a JOY report, which will tell you which JOY activities make you happiest, and how you can apply them in everyday life. The JOY project helps scientists understand what makes people happy, and how to help people best. 

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