Dear Will:

We have this delightful, irresistible friend who likes to say that she is a “certified joyologist.” She’s kidding, but if you met her and heard her infectious laugh and saw the way she infuses a room with positive energy, you would have no reason to question her claim.

Given the chaos and disruption of 2020, we figure we could all use a little more joyology in our lives. A lot more, actually. As the poet Mary Oliver has written, “joy is not made to be a crumb.” Rather, she says, “if you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.”

All right. We’re game. ‘Tis the season, after all, when joy shows up on billboards and t-shirts and any number of gift bags (shopping bags, for that matter). Looking back on this year-like-no-other, there have been plenty of things that have brought us joy in spite—and sometimes because—of all the rest. So in this season of giving, we’re giving in. To joy.

There were many moments during 2020 in which we suddenly, unexpectedly felt joy. Moments like these:

• When hundreds of my co-workers agreed to voluntary pay-cuts so that no one would be laid off or furloughed (not a bad place to work, right?)
• Before: 90-mile commute on the 405. Now: 30-foot stroll down the hall (pants optional)
• Working with a puppy asleep at your feet (panting optional)
• Hearing the sound of neighbor children lost in imagination on a cool, summer evening (love that)
• Knowing that many doubters wear masks anyway for the sake of the rest of us (love them)
• Sitting together—just the two of us—on the patio outside of Rubio’s (first night out in months)
• Making new friends of old neighbors while walking Nacho, the least-disciplined dog in Orange County (work-in-negligible-progress)
• Eavesdropping while Dana tutors one of her students (who knew math could be so fun?)
• Texting with Seth during the Lakers’ Championship in Quarantine (perhaps even better than the championship itself)
• Watching more movies AND reading more books (how is that possible?)
• Trading in Dana’s two worn-out knees for a couple of state-of-the-art titanium numbers (to match her titanium hips)
• Cheering in the early dawn as our beloved Brentford Bees came THIS CLOSE to the Premiership (best season ever)
• Sunday evening Facetime Poetry Hour with Bryn (how else would we know about Mary Oliver?)
• All of us avoiding COVID-19 (so far)
• Seeing a resounding affirmation that democracy still works (so far)
• First tour of Luke and Tyler’s first house (quirky and delightful, just like the house)
• Spending a distanced weekend with Bryn and Seth at Silver City Mountain Resort (before they were chased out by the fires)
• Celebrating the Dodgers’ first championship since before any of our kids was born (catharsis)
• Looking on as Nacho disembowels yet another squeaky toy (no blue dragon is safe)
• Studying Engineering from home while enrolled at UCLA (correction: no joy in that for Seth whatsoever—he’s moved back to Westwood)
• Eating Guerilla Tacos during the Worst Drive-in Dance Concert of the COVID Era™ (Date Night!)
• Witnessing the selflessness of medical personnel and other essential workers (angels and superheroes)
• Meeting the brand-new baby of our brand-new friends who arrived only a few months ago as refugees from Afghanistan (you’d love them too)
• Sitting down to compile this list (and there’s more where this came from)
• Thinking about friends like you (corny, but true)
• Celebrating the birth of Jesus (Joy to the World!)

Here’s hoping for even more joyology in 2021.

PW

_{Photo by Anthony Asael}