GetSomeJoy

What are you doing to getsomejoy?

It all started at the 2022 Black Joy Parade.

We debuted our Community Literary Therapy Wall in the Healing Village at the 2022 Black Joy Parade in Downtown Oakland, California so people could write about joy.

Over 800 people in over 20 countries have experienced our Literary Therapy Writing Program.

We brought postcards, pens, Black Joy Parade Edition Literary Therapy Exploration Workbooks, fried chicken stickers, and wellness resources by 1Degree.

Then we took our Community Literary Therapy Wall on the road. To date, it has lived in two branches of the Oakland Public Library.

Where will our wall go next?

HOW CAN WE MAKE SCHOOL MORE JOYFUL?

School Superintendent’s Day Conference

Windsor High School. Windsor, NY

In October 2023, GetSomeJoy collaborated with the Broome County Family Violence Prevention Council to bring our Community Literary Therapy Wall, a Literary Therapy for Educators + Administrators workshop, and a keynote presentation on centering joy at school to the yearly multidisciplinary gathering of educators, administrators, wellness professionals, advocates, and community leaders.

see the agenda

What are you doing to getsomejoy?

We talked to educators about how they center their own mental health while pouring into others.

BECAUSE EDUCATORS NEED JOY, TOO

2023 FOCUS Summer Learning Conference

Buena Vista University. Storm Lake, Iowa

GetSomeJoy shared about joy-infused education during a keynote presentation, offered space for educators to collaborate on tools for coping and finding joy in a Literary Therapy for Educators and Administrators breakout session, and crowdsourced ideas for cultivating more joyful learning environments on our Community Literary Therapy Wall.

see what happened

OAKLAND BLACK PRIDE

2023 Oakland Queer Expo

Oakland, CA

As the official mental health partner of the 2023 Oakland Black Pride Festival, we created space for reflection in a Literary Therapy Writing Workshop on using creativity, storytelling, and joy to navigate grief and loss and by hosting our Community Literary Therapy Wall among the vendors, DJs, food, and family-friendly fun at the 2023 Queer Expo.

Yes, we had fried chicken stickers, too.

see the photos

What does joy mean to you? What are you doing to getsomejoy?

Here’s what Oakland had to say.

SPREADING JOY IN THE STACKS

Oakland Public Library, Elmhurst Branch

Oakland, CA

On its third stop, in the spring of 2022, our Community Literary Therapy Wall offered space for reflection on what joy and somewhere to to grab one of our Black Joy Parade Edition Literary Therapy Workbooks.

BRING SOME JOY TO YOUR MEETINGS + EVENTS

Use our Virtual Literary Therapy Wall

What does joy mean to your coworkers? Hosted by Miro, our Virtual Literary Therapy Wall will help you foster connnection and prioritize mental health at work.

spread some joy

Oakland Public Library

Our wall spent March + April 2022 at Oakland’s Lakeview Branch.

View the photos here.

What meal or dish represents joy to you? Why? Write about a memory attached to this dish. PANCAKES! Drawing of a stack of pancakes on a plate with syrup. Because they're fun to eat for breakfast and special when you eat them at night.

Photoo of a yellow felt wall with post cards clipped on strinngs.

What does joy mean to you? How does it look, feel, sound, taste? Joy feels like ease and elation. Like solving a puzzle that unlocks your destiny. Like alignment in life and self. Sounds like children laughing at the swings.