"I wanted to cry, but I couldn't because I was so happy, so then we both ended up screaming at each other," Kam said. "[Joy] is something that we discussed as a team, just trying to enjoy every single moment. I think the crowd could feel it."
Do you savor moments of joy? Or do you postpone it until easier times? When the world feels gray and shaky, joy might seem almost offensive-something for other people, something for other times. That real or imagined voice says, "What are you smiling about?" Or else, we are just too busy multitasking, keeping up, side-hustling; we don't have the time to smell the proverbial roses.
Perhaps a more uncontroversial and profound Turing test is the mystery of the absolute arbitrariness of what makes us happy. Looking over this year's list, patterns emerge-trips, new friends-but much more here inheres in the mundane, lowercase, sense-activating thinginess of life: walking through clouds of butterflies, eating candy alone, homemade stew, wearing pink glitter, cold clementines in a hot bath. Joy is not second-hand. Its unpredictability identifies us as precisely as our fingerprints.
One survey of business leaders in the U.S. found that 2 out of 3 say that after cutting DEI, their company suffered customer boycotts (as did Target) and diminished employee morale. The Catalyst/Meltzer 2025 survey reports that U.S. employees are displeased with the DEI retreat by companies, and more than 2 out of 5 say they'd quit if their employer stopped supporting DEI. In fact, 1 in 3 leaders who rolled back DEI policies reported later reinstating them.
Funnily enough, before they were tapped for this project, Ryan says Inez & Vinoodh used to muse about how using a phone would be so much smoother than their traditional setup with heavy gear, lighting, and assistants. "You can just move more quickly and act on ideas as they're evolving," Ryan says. "The phone allows you to be a little bit reckless and take chances. You can shoot thousands of pictures and try things you might not have tried before."
Emotions are not just fleeting reactions; they are essential guides for human connection and survival. Whether through the quiet ache of grief or the unexpected flood of tears in moments of joy, our emotional expressions reveal what matters most. Crying, in particular, speaks to this paradox: It can soothe inner tension, signal a need for support, or mark the overwhelming beauty of love and meaning. In this way, both sorrow and joy become invitations, reminders that feeling deeply is not a weakness,
During the pandemic, when we were both working from home, my husband and I started having a daily 'tea-and-toast break' when our schedules accommodated. It provides a few minutes each day when we talk, laugh, sit in the garden, or otherwise relax and enjoy each other's company.
I became a sex educator for the nerdiest possible reason. When I got to undergrad, I knew I was gonna be going to grad school for something, I had no idea what, but I knew I needed volunteer work on my resume to look like a good grad school candidate.
