Hello and welcome to this very first episode of the Dr. Joy Show, where we are gonna have open conversations with people on their journey to joy. I'm your host, Dr. Laura LaJoie. Our journey to Joy will take us through the highs and lows of people living a life through the lens of joy. Now, let's be real. Life is hard and we don't just get to be happy, successful, and joyful. We learn what joy looks like by living through the opposite. The hard stuff we have to survive, the broken relationships, the traumas and the perceived failures, and learn that failure is not fatal. We need to get through loss, sadness, disappointment, and at the end of the day, choose joy day after day. Joy can show up in so many ways. For some, it's simply the gift of waking up to live another day with gratitude for the gifts of that day. For others, joy is catching the perfect wave, playing with puppies or great music. Joy does not have to be complicated, and it can show up in big and small ways. Our conversations will also dig into some of life's adventures that have paved the path to joy, sometimes smooth and easy, but often rough and challenging, or even feeling like you're traveling straight up the side of a mountain. We must remember though, that there's an up. There's a down. Where there's dark, there's light, and where there's weakness, we can find strength. I'll share with you along the way some of my personal journey to joy. Often people see me today and think my life must be easy because I'm always so happy and upbeat. Well, friends, I am happy and upbeat most of the time, and I do choose joy day after day, but the best I can do is just be the best version of me today. I did get the gift of an awesome last name. LaJoe. LaJoie in French literally means joy. Thank you, daddy. I did not, however, choose for my daddy to die when I was four years old, or for my mom to send me away to live with my grandparents for two years in a different state so that she could work nights to make better money in order to build the life of our dreams and to allow me so many incredible gifts. I received the gifts of family travel, education, sports, and that's just the beginning. Thanks mom. To be honest, those two years are some of the best and some of the most challenging of my entire life. My Grandma Jo, is my kindred spirit. She taught me to love hard. To always have a place at the table for a friend or weary traveler, and then when life feels hard, you lean in, not back. My Grandpa Pek taught me the value of knowledge that integrity and generosity are vital and that curiosity will allow you to figure out anything. I learned to understand that I could be wild and free and curious, and that the boundaries they helped me to set allowed me to build the firm foundation for my future. Not everyone has the gift of an amazing family, but my mom and grandparents also taught me that we can choose our extended family. With most of our family in Canada and my grandparents living in California, they created a network of people that I consider family to this day. The Jankovs, the Browns, the Vonoviches, the Kahnens and so many more that were in our lives growing up and still are today. The people in our lives can be our most valuable asset, and it's important that we make the effort to build them up and that they feel loved and appreciated. And for me, my family and friends help to make me feel bulletproof, like I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Now at the end of this episode and every episode, we'll have our final fast five questions. I thought I would start today by giving you my fast five. First off is a song that brings you joy. Well, for me it's a song called Joy by the Band For King and Country. In the middle of this last few years, there was a day where I was out walking and I just wanted some music that was really upbeat, and so I just searched Joy into Spotify and there it was. It is an incredible song that makes me wanna dance. Now, a book that brings joy. For me, it's a book called The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO by Robin Sharma. It's a parable that gives us some life lessons about how important love is, especially self-love, as well as the value of service and gratitude. Now a movie that brings me joy is Grease. I saw this movie five times at the theater in the summer of 1978, and I just love the music. It was so much fun to dance to and go back to the fifties. Now, I did not actually realize that it may not be appropriate for children, and so my children heard Grease a lot growing up. It wasn't until we went to see the Grease singalong at a local theater and took our children that I realized that maybe it wasn't appropriate for them. Anyhow, at the time, my oldest was nine and my youngest was five, and we all went into the costume contest. So of course, Mike and I dressed up as Danny and Sandy at the end of the movie, Sierra age seven, dressed up as the good Sandy with a cute pink dress and the perfect hair. Micah dressed up like Knicke and Emilia dressed up like Jan in her pajamas with ponytails and all. When they had us go up to the front of the theater for the costume contest, they were asking everybody, who are you dressed up as. Well, when they had the children's contest, Micah went dressed up in jeans and a brown leather jacket, hair slicked back and the woman said, and who are you? And Mik said, well, I'm Knicke. You know,'cause a hickey from Knicke is like a Hallmark card. Well, it was hilarious to us, but I was dying under my seat that my 9-year-old spit this out. So thanks Micah for that awesome memory. The fourth fast five is joy hacks. Joy hacks can show up in our life in so many ways, and they're just ways that hack into joy. For me, it's water, especially the ocean, or a day on the river with in my kayak with my dog, Missy. Also time with family or hugs of any kind. You know, you can have the big squeeze where you feel like you're gonna lose your breath, and then sometimes you just have that little hug that's still meaningful, but with a personal touch. Our final fast five is out aways at the end of every episode. We'll, give Attaways. These are verbal recognitions of cheering someone on or celebrating someone who's helped you along the way. My Attaway today is for my family, especially my husband, Mike. I appreciate you guys for always believing in me, for listening to my crazy stories and for allowing me to be fully self-expressed so that I'm able to live my life of joy and do projects like this podcast, which are meaningful to me, and hopefully to all of our friends and guests that are listening. I want to thank you all for listening to the Dr. Joy Show, and we'll have episodes that drop every Wednesday. If you want to get in touch with me, you can PM me on Instagram at Dr. Joy Show. That's D-R-J-O-Y-S-H-O-W, or you could email me at thedrjoyshow@gmail.com. I would love for you to share with me your joys qualities and characteristics that you believe joyful people do or have. And if you or someone you know is living their life through the lens of joy, please share with me the contact information. I would love to have a conversation. My ultimate goal is to create an army of joy. Ambassadors. Well friends, that's all for now, and keep choosing joy!