An ad campaign with the sole purpose of making you smile is up and running in Champaign, Illinois. We’re teaming up with Champaign’s Adams Outdoor Advertising office for a year-long happiness project that will rotate four positive messages on billboards as space is available. Three of the four messages are based on scientific research about what makes people feel happier; and […]

May is National Smile Month! We’re celebrating with this billboard on SE Grand and Morrison in Portland, Oregon. We have just one agenda here: giving people one more reason to smile. This message is hand-drawn by Ava, an original member of the Junior Joy Team and master joy-spreader. While this billboard marks the last in our series with Awesome Portland, […]

Looking for a sign that the holiday weekend will be as wonderful as you hope for?  You’ve just found one. And, if you happen to be driving northbound on I-5 in Portland, Oregon, today you’ll see quite a few more. The Joy Team and The Junior Joy Team will be out spreading joy, optimism and inspiration through the power of positive […]

Joy matters.  We know that. Jeanie Miley knows it too. Admittedly, some people are temperamentally more inclined toward happiness than others, but I’m seeing more and more that being happy has a lot to do with the choices I make, day by day. I’m seeing how much my moods affect those with whom I am in contact, conversation or communication […]

Being happy has been credited with many things: improved physical health, longer life, and better mental health to name a few. Recent research shows that feeling joyful can also improve race relations by erasing some effects of racial bias. A study published by Kareem J. Johnson and Barbara L. Fredrickson shows that feeling happy can eliminate what’s called “own-race bias.” […]

Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill. As a result, happy people live longer. The size of the effect on longevity is comparable to that of smoking or not. Read the article on Science Daily about the study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Feelings of happiness and optimism play a positive role against breast cancer. Research suggests that while staying positive has a protective role, adverse life events such as the loss of a parent or close relative, divorce or the loss of a spouse can increase a woman’s risk of developing the disease. Read the article on Science Daily about the study […]