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Joyful  By  cover art

Joyful

By: Ingrid Fetell Lee
Narrated by: Ingrid Fetell Lee
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Publisher's summary

Make small changes to your surroundings and create extraordinary happiness in your life with groundbreaking research from designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee.

Next Big Idea Club selection—chosen by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, and Adam Grant as one of the "two most groundbreaking new nonfiction reads of the season!"

"This book has the power to change everything! Writing with depth, wit, and insight, Ingrid Fetell Lee shares all you need to know in order to create external environments that give rise to inner joy."—Susan Cain, author of Quiet and founder of Quiet Revolution

Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset, or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people—regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity—are mesmerized by baby animals, and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful balloons?

We are often made to feel that the physical world has little or no impact on our inner joy. Increasingly, experts urge us to find balance and calm by looking inward—through mindfulness or meditation—and muting the outside world. But what if the natural vibrancy of our surroundings is actually our most renewable and easily accessible source of joy?

In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive, while another fosters acceptance and delight—and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Ingrid Fetell Lee (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Joy is the most basic building block of happiness, and this mesmerizing book reveals where to find it—and how to create it. Ingrid Fetell Lee's blockbuster debut will open your eyes to all the places where joy is hiding in plain sight. And it just might cause you to become more joyful too."—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

"A completely original treatment of a completely new and original idea: we all have within the power to design joy into our lives. Joyful is an inexhaustible and exciting guide to what makes life good."—Arianna Huffington, New York Times bestselling author of Thrive, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and founder of The Huffington Post

"I've never reached out to an author to request their permission to endorse their book...until now. Ingrid Fetell Lee invites us into a dimension of the human experience that was, ironically, hidden to most of us. She shows us how we can mindfully see joy in the simple aesthetics of our surroundings—and it has already changed my everyday life. If I'm feeling blue, I remember to look at the new leaves on the tree outside my window. It is simple but profound. Joyful is irresistibly compelling. The idea of Joyful fills me with joy."—Amy Cuddy, New York Times bestselling author of Presence

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    5 out of 5 stars

Boring read of an interesting book

Maybe it's because of my ADHD, but this was one of the hardest audiobooks to focus on. The author has a very soothing, calm voice, and I just kept zoning out. She gives everything the same weight, and similar intonations. I really, really struggled with paying attention to what she was saying, and wished through the whole book that it had been read by someone with a more dynamic voice and sense of storytelling, and it made me so grateful for the professional voiceover actors who narrate most of the audiobooks I listen to.

That said, I found a lot of the stuff in the book fascinating, and keep quoting it to people. About why rainbows excite us because they're abundance, and lightness, and color, and surprise all at the same time. About how tubemen got created for the Olympics in 2000 (they seem like something that has existed for so much longer!). I am so glad that I stuck with it and made it through (though I had to listen to some sections like 5 times to pay attention), because the material does speak to me, and I eventually absorbed a lot of it. It has changed the way I look at my surroundings. In my opinion, Ms. Lee is a much better writer and researcher than she is narrator.

There's really a lot of great stuff in this book. But if you have trouble with staying alert when a soothing voice talks to you, then I recommend reading the hard copy instead of doing the audiobook.

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20 people found this helpful

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great!

I put off listening to this because I thought it might be a preachy self-help type of book, but it's actually a very pleasant read full of interesting anecdotes and information that I hadn't heard before. It definitely makes me want to add more color into my life.

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13 people found this helpful

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Great listen on my best of 2018 list

Loved listening to this book and seeing my environment in a new beautiful way. One of my favorite shares in 2018.

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11 people found this helpful

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This is the book I have been looking for...

"Joyful" has changed the way I look at my life and the world around me. I am inspired to fill my life and home with bright spots that bring me joy. I feel that I have been craving so many of the Aesthetics of joy that Ingrid Fetell Lee describes in her book for so long but not realizing what it was. With the tools she provides in this book I'm excited to start changing my environment and look forward to seeing how it will affect my life in general. incidentally, this is the first book I've listened to on Audible that I immediately wanted to start listening to again!

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9 people found this helpful

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OK

The book could never settle on what it was trying to convey. The Science of Joy? Marketing for a select number of companies? Home Design? Cool travel destinations?

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8 people found this helpful

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It’s not an “extra”

In a world of focus on “next” and “later” comes this. A reminder that to fully live is to identify what gives us joy and include it Now. Versus the bar sign reading “free beer tomorrow”. Listen and get a personal list of what makes you Joyful.

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7 people found this helpful

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Cute but a lot of fluff

If you've previously listened to the NPR podcasts and TED talks on happiness/joy, skip this. It's cute but very little substance.

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6 people found this helpful

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Collection of ideas.. No unifying perspective

I thought the question of discovery was an interesting one - if Joy is a feeling.. Then what triggers it in everyday life? She then explores different factors that illicit this feeling. I felt what could've made it stronger is to give some kind of strong perspective or unifying theme to make sense of all the examples she's given.

One factor she talked about was symmetry.. And I wonder if this is about JOY more than it is about feeling calm and serenity. The term joy could be quite fluid and in the book I felt it was used to convey a lot of things that connotate happiness in a general sense.

To be fair, author had some really nice and practical tips about what is a good lighting level or some ideas on home and workspace decor, but I was still left with a sense of something missing... Is joy brought about by delighting the senses? A hint of playful disorder in what would have been a regimented existence? What?

Lastly, for a book about Joy, the narration was quite dull and the monotonous up and down reading of each sentence did not spark joy.

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6 people found this helpful

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I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!

What a refreshing look at the everyday things that can bring joy! I have a new appreciation for the little things!

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4 people found this helpful

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The depth and width of joy.

Ingrid, you have created something so incredible, so beautiful, so colorful, so bright, so inspiring, so joyful. Thank you for this brilliant journey into the heart of aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual joy.

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4 people found this helpful