What If You’re Already Standing in the Good Part?

It shows up barefoot, uninvited, and completely uninterested in your bank account.

Photo by Sam McNamara on Unsplash.

Joy is a paradox.

It’s one of the purest experiences we get in life — simple, honest, sometimes unexpected. And yet, it’s also one of the most mysterious and complex aspects of being human. We chase it, analyze it, try to bottle it, sell it, recreate it. Sometimes we think we’ve caught it, only to find it was just a momentary hit of dopamine dressed in fancier clothes.

Part of what makes joy feel so elusive is how we, as a society, have tangled it up in myths over time. Like a game of telephone stretched across centuries and civilizations, the original concept of joy — genuine, spontaneous, unfiltered — has become warped. These days, it often comes with conditions. Prerequisites. Price tags.

We’ve been sold the idea that joy is something to be bought.

Modern marketing has perfected this narrative. Commercials don’t just sell products anymore — they sell feelings. That vacation rental ad isn’t about the beachside bungalow, it’s about how fulfilled and relaxed and deeply bonded you’ll feel with your family if you rent that exact bungalow. The luxury car ad isn’t really about horsepower — it’s about joy on your commute, a…