I'm recording this episode from my bed, at 6:30pm, surrounded by laundry, with a partially sedated dog, and with maybe 15 minutes before my kids come home. I cannot think of a more perfect setting for a conversation about joy.

Because joy usually isn't the Instagram version. Sometimes it's survival. Sometimes it's taking 20 minutes out to nip to the garden centre to get covered in manure to make a place for happy plants before the dentist appointment and the school run, and attempting to figure out dinner for everyone in a kitchen with no floors and industrial fans and dehumidifiers making you mysteriously nauseous.

Sometimes it's putting the kids' clothes away with love and intention, instead of racing through it.

This is the Joy category of the Joy First Audit: welcome to the real face of joy in the messy middle.

• The four versions of joy (and why most of us only count one of them)
• What the big battleground that feels really present this week
• My score: what it means and what it doesn't
• Why the gap between "laughter and play" joy and "survival" joy matters
• Some BIG BIG news I've been dying to share with you: a milestone that feels very connected to everything this season has been about

Take the Joy First Audit: https://joyfirstworld.substack.com/p/the-joy-first-audit

The 'Joy Codes' episode: https://joyfirstworld.com/blogs/joy-first-podcast/finding-your-joy-codes

Find us on Substack: joyfirstworld.substack.com https://substack.com/@joyfirstworld

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoyFirstWorld/videos

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