Could you use a spark of joy?

Recently, I gave a workshop for older Australians on what it takes to flourish as you age. One of my themes was around keeping an active brain, a topic on which I will do a blogpost soon. One participant afterwards wanted to know how to choose activities that would foster an active brain, so we talked about the general guidelines. But I stressed that above all, you should choose activities that ‘spark joy’.

A bit of back story: Years ago (along with half the world) I discovered Japanese decluttering expert Marie Kondo, whose bestselling book is called The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. I bought the book and it’s wonderful. The core concept is that you take, for example, every piece of clothing you own and place them on the floor. One by one, you pick up each article and ask yourself ‘Does this spark joy?’. If so, keep it. If not, discard it.

I continue to use the technique to great effect with my clothes and other household stuff – it is effective, and fun. And it made it much easier to discard things – Kondo’s advice that you thank the article for its service to you, and then pass it on for someone else to love, worked a treat. (Until I feel the need to go shopping to fill the new gaps in my wardrobe, that is. Not sure what Kondo would say about that…)

But gradually I began to apply the ‘spark joy test’ to other areas of my life.

I started in my home office, and found it useful for getting rid of the miscellany that hangs around me – articles that I cut out of the newspaper before I went digital, notes I had scribbled to myself years ago, and so on. I did find a limitation to the office decluttering application when it came to tax records. Do they spark joy? Decidedly not. Should I keep them anyway? Decidedly yes.

But the place where the ‘spark of joy’ idea has really captured my imagination is in thinking about my life more generally. I have adopted ‘spark of joy’ as my litmus test when I am unsure if I want to spend my time on a given project or activity.

I am also asking myself on days when I am in a rut, ‘What could I do now to add a spark of joy?’. In fact, I am a bit of a spark of joy tragic,  although I hope my deeply ingrained cynicism will save me from the worst of that dreadful fate…

All of which explains why I suggested the technique to my workshop participant…

So, if you are contemplating a new activity, hobby, friendship or learning project, ask yourself ‘does the thought of this spark joy?’. Apart from the obvious medical procedures or life admin necessities, it’s a really useful filter for increasing life satisfaction and fun. Why not give it a try?