# Joy - An intense feeling of deep spiritual [[Connection]], pleasure, and appreciation. ([Location 3150](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3150)) - Joy is sudden, unexpected, short-lasting, and high-intensity. - It’s characterized by a [[Connection]] with others, or with God, nature, or the universe. - Joy expands our thinking and attention, and it fills us with a sense of freedom and abandon. ([Location 3134](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3134)) - Chairo (Greek for joy) was described by the ancient Greeks as the “culmination of being” and the “good mood of the soul.” - The opposite of joy is not [[Sadness]], but fear. ([Location 3144](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3144)) - that the very nature of joy pushes the [[Boundaries]] of our ability to communicate about lived experience via spoken language. ([Location 3152](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3152)) - cultures that have more words to describe the emotion of joy may also experience joy more richly. ([Location 3153](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3153)) - while experiencing joy, we don’t lose ourselves, we become more truly ourselves. ([Location 3154](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3154)) ## Physiology - with joy, colors seem brighter, physical movements feel freer and easier, and smiling happens involuntarily. - Some researchers even describe spontaneous weeping as part of the overwhelming experience of joy. ([Location 3156](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3156)) ## Joy and Gratitude - Researchers describe the relationship between joy and gratitude as an “intriguing upward spiral” ([Location 3160](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3160)) - Trait gratitude predicts greater future experiences of in-the-moment joy. - Trait joy predicts greater future experiences of in-the-moment gratitude. - Dispositional or situational joy predicts greater future subjective well-being. ([Location 3163](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B09DTJM18Q&location=3163))