This is your reminder that joy doesn’t always look like the Instagram picture you had in mind. It doesn’t always come with confetti, a perfectly staged latte, or a soundtrack by Lizzo. Sometimes joy shows up like a cat dragging in a questionable “gift.” Unexpected. Messy. Slightly confusing. But still joy.

I once made “joy” my word of the year. And guess what? I manifested it. It was sparkly, it was loud, it was mine. Several years later, I thought, hey, let’s do that again. Same recipe, same outcome. Ha! Life laughed at me and threw me a hurricane, a bureaucracy, and some existential dread for seasoning. But here’s the twist: joy still snuck in through the back door. Because survival is joy. Strength is joy. And sometimes, the weird moments in between are joy, too.

This year, I’m doing it differently. I’m manifesting, but on the down-low. No big declarations, no neon signs, no need to belt it out like I’m auditioning for Broadway. Because I’ve learned something important. Sometimes it’s cool to be secretly joyful. To hold it close. To share it with only your tight-knit circle. To let it sit quietly in your chest like a secret superpower.

Joy doesn’t need an audience. It doesn’t need to trend. It just needs you to notice it. Even if it shows up wearing sweatpants instead of sequins.

So, here’s to joy in all its disguises. To joy that whispers instead of shouts. To joy that survives headwinds, hurricanes, and Monday morning meetings.

Because real joy? It doesn’t always come gift-wrapped in glitter. But oh, when it arrives it’s still magic.