Hi there, I’m Joy!
It happened when we lived in Busan, South Korea, several years ago. It was an incredibly hot day in August and the feeble air conditioning in my apartment wasn’t cutting it, so I had headed to the stores to just walk the aisles and sip a bubble tea from Gong Cha. I meandered into Daiso, a magical store filled with almost everything you’d need to survive, all for roughly five dollars or less. As I passed by the section the toilet seats (yes, even toilet seats are available at Daiso!), something caught my eye. Maybe it’s because there were never mugs or pencils or those popular license plate keychains with the name “Joy” when I was growing up. I’ve become attuned to finding any place that has that word/ my name written on it. So that day, when I glimpsed “Joy,” I paused, backed up, and checked to make sure I’d seen correctly.
Indeed I had.
The lid of the toilet seat was inscribed with the words, “Find joy in the ordinary.”
I burst out laughing and snapped the selfie above to send to my parents.
That’s what this newsletter is all about: finding joy in the ordinary and extraordinary, at home and adventuring—in all the parts of the world. It’s not all sunshine and butterflies, but I believe joy in its truest form goes deeper than that.
A little more about me: I’ve been happily married for quite a while to a wonderful and extremely patient man named Matt. We have five kids with a sixteen-year age gap between from the oldest to the youngest. I was born in Bangladesh, and I have lived there, Thailand, Malaysia, Spain, South Korea, and all over the USA. Right now, I call Germany home.
By subscribing to Joy in the World, you won’t miss any posts. I only write a few a month (best case scenario), so don’t worry about my emails filling up your inbox and giving you more "clutter”. And the best news? It’s free. Subscribing will make my heart grow three sizes or something like that. Seriously. I appreciate it so much!
XO, Joy Nicholas
Here’s where you can find more of my writing around the internet:
Business Insider
I Graduated A Year Early From High School And I Don’t Regret It
Fathom Magazine
I’ve Glimpsed One of the Monsters
Brevity Blog
Coffee + Crumbs
Tales from the Survivor of a Broken Butt
The Tree That You Come Home To
Legacy Magazine
Fallow House
I’m also on Instagram at joynicholaswrites!
I’d love for you to subscribe and join the conversation.
