Nano-Joys

the absolute tiniest, very least of the joys

Your AI-free reminder that you can find or create joy while also feeling fear, rage, despair, and other prickly crap.

What is the smallest speck of joy you can fathom?

Small like a sprinkle on an ice cream cone. Small like a tiny colored non-pareil on a dot cake. Small like a wee grain of glitter.

We focus on microjoys here, not big sweeping life-altering joys like landing your dream job or booking a bucket list trip (giga-joys?). Big joys require heaps of planning, plotting, studying, working, organizing, goal-setting, and executing. We’ll leave that to someone else’s newsletter. A micro-joy, according to the metrics, is equal to one millionth of a whole joy.

Which of course is a bit daft, since we can’t define a unit of joy. Is it an ice cream cone on a hot day? A hug from a dear friend? Voices singing in harmony? A belly laugh? Petting your favorite pooch or holding your bestie’s baby?

Microjoys are abundant around us, they don’t necessarily present as obviously as say, a balloon bouquet or a flash mob performing your walk-up song. We have to train our brains to spot them, which means pulling our heads out of our asses and our attention from our screens to start looking around. Microjoys range from that perfect cuppa to an uplifting conversation with a stranger to dancing in the rain.

One of the benefits of chasing microjoys is a product of frequency illusion: the more you’re attuned to them, the more you find. When your day is sprinkled with lots of little joy confettis, the dumpster fire that is humanity on planet earth is a little easier to stomach. Sadly, that fire seems to be burning hotter and faster, fueled with the dung of greed and data centers. We need to adjust accordingly and lower our threshold for joy.

Stand by micro-joy, make way for nano-joy! Weighing in at one billionth of a joy, nano-joy takes up practically neither time nor effort yet comes with a big payoff. But we need to be in peak joy-seeking shape to hone our awareness of these split-second magics. Noticing nano-joys requires focus and attention. They’re a scent on a breeze, a few notes of a song, a flash of a hummingbird, or the smile of a crescent moon.

It’s not enough to spot the nano-joy, we have to claim it. A simple acknowledgement is all it takes. I see you, nano-joy. It doesn’t even need to be aloud, a mere inhalation with the moment is enough to recognize and honor that little twinkle in the universe. Bonus points for sharing your observation with another soul in the vicinity (Hey, crepe myrtle tree named Walt, lookit that kid telling Rhonda, the split leaf philodendron, how pretty she is).

Imagine each nano-joy as a molecule of water, a mere drop in an ocean of ordinary moments. But our little water drop is lovely and light, rising to the top. As soon as she pops up she sees the sun and mirrors that shine back, as water is wont to do. But it’s not just that one lone moment, because we’re so good at spotting them. There are millions of little nano-joys. They’ve all floated up to the top to reflect the sun. They’re moving and dancing and shining and now, we have a big glittering sparkle. One whole sparkle of joy. And all we had to do was notice and name.

Nano-joys

• A brief whiff of fresh bread or fresh coffee or petrichor or [insert a lovely scent here]

• Birdsong

• Windchimes

• Baby laughter

• Rainbow

• A flash of deep magenta or heavy teal or [insert arresting color here]

• A well-placed sunbeam

• A guerilla-compliment (given or received)

• Deep gratitude

• Human connection

• Reflections in puddles

• The opening chords of a favorite song

• Flowers in sidewalk cracks

• Singing to yourself

• Single-song dance party

• Sunlight sparkling on a body of water

• Witnessing another’s moment of joy

• Continue the list with your suggestions in the comments

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I’m always open to ideas, suggestions, shenanigans, tomfoolery, collaborations, cheese, snacks, and field trips.

You can find my art here and here. I offer custom workshops and design. I am the proud guardian/custodian of a 17.5 year old cheeseburger named Patty.

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words and images © Rubi McGrory 2021-2026