Hello! I author this site. I live in Portland, Oregon where I am an entrepreneur, writer, artist, and happiness advocate. For more information about my various projects, visit www.emmamccreary.com.

For the past five years, joy has been my guiding light. What makes my heart sing? And how can I give myself to it? I have been on a personal quest to find, follow, and create that which I truly enjoy.

What I’ve come to believe is that joy can change the world. Joy is an internal compass by which we can find the life we were meant to live, the work we were meant to do. Whether you believe in a conscious God or not doesn’t matter. Whether you believe joy was designed into us, or just a coincidence doesn’t matter. The effects of focusing on and creating a joy-based life speak for themselves.

I believe that joy can change the world. I believe joy is changing the world, as more and more people decide that joy matters.

This site aims to explore how to cultivate joy, what it means to live a joyful life, and how to avoid potential pitfalls on the journey. I also want to discuss how to create a culture of joy, in which we encourage, support, and celebrate each other to live fully joyful lives.

Ultimately I believe focusing on joy is a path to enlightenment–to the sense of connection that people call God. I think it’s a great path, and a direct one, because joy is our personal compass toward what is alive in us. 

Note: I use “God” as shorthand for the river of life that runs through and connects everything, however, given the various definitions and connotations attached to it, I may not use it a lot on this site. I don’t want people to confuse what I mean with an old bearded guy in the sky. =)