Review: Joyful

Earlier this year I read the book Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee, and it left me more inspired than I had been in months! I am now full of ideas of how to bring more joy into my life.

I have in the past felt let down by some books that verge on self-help territory, especially anything that promises to improve my happiness. I always feel a bit inadequate reading any such book, when it tells me I need to change myself. But this book is the complete opposite, because it’s more about changing your environment than yourself, which seems so much more achievable!

The book covers the topics of energy, abundance, freedom, harmony, play, surprise, transcendence, magic, celebration, and renewal, and looks at how we can use elements of these to bring joy into our lives, whether it’s in our decor, clothing, or activities. It looks at how simple things like circles, confetti, bubbles, and polka dots, can bring us so much joy.

We live in a consumerist society, and I often feel guilt about buying so much, especially things that I’m buying for fun rather than because I “need” them. This book made me a bit less hard on myself, and I realised that we have needs other than just food and shelter – keeping ourselves happy should be regarded as essential too!

And the book in itself is a joyful object, with its playful cover of overlapping dots, and yellow-edged pages.

I’ve taken many notes from the book, and will show you some of those over the next few days. I have made plans to bring more joy into my life in lots of different ways, so here’s to lots of pompoms and polka dots!