When I heard of Archbishop Tutu’s passing on December 26, I felt the deep sadness of having one fewer of our human rights heroes alive on the planet with us. But then I remembered another aspect of his work with the world — spreading JOY. 

I met "Arch," as he was called by many who knew him, at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford several years ago and watched in awe as he came onto the stage and laughed. Just laughed, walking from one side to the other, not saying a word, just laughing… until the whole theater began to laugh with him. It was completely infectious, and for the hundreds of us present, moments of unbridled joy, felt and shared deeply with someone who seemed to embody what it means to be joyful.

Of all the gifts this extraordinary leader gave to the world, his often repeated reminders of the importance of joy resonate most strongly — joy defined in a life of serving others, in fighting for justice, in leading from a moral compass and an unshakeable faith. "Joy is much bigger than happiness,” according to Archbishop Tutu, and he added, “While happiness is often seen as being dependent on external circumstances, joy is not."

Mission: Joy and The Big Joy Project

Not surprisingly, Archbishop Tutu and another leader who also radiates a sense of joy and lives a life of service — His Holiness, the Dalai Lama — were close friends. In 2016, they wrote a book together aptly titled The Book of Joy. It was an instant New York Times bestseller. Now there is a film documenting the journeys both men took to find the joy in their own lives and to teach others how to create more joy for ourselves.

I have seen the film Mission: JOY—Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, which attracted four Academy Award winners, including co-director Louie Psihoyos, to the production team, all attracted to the film’s mission to raise awareness of the special friendship between these great leaders and to elevate their message about the need for more joy, now more than ever.

The film is wonderful, inspiring and memorable. It captures how these two great men — each survivors of pain and suffering in their own lives — came to embrace so fully both the ancient wisdom and the new research about the nature of joy. It explores how joy contributes to our mental, emotional and physical well-being and how we all might access more joy, no matter our circumstances.

As Peggy Callahan, the producer and co-director of the film explains, “Cutting edge neuroscience research and ancient wisdom agree — joy is the clean energy that fuels everything else we do in life. Joy-filled people live longer, are healthier, have more friends, are more successful, make more money, and stay married longer." 

Also important to remember is that alongside caring, compassion, and a sense of personal well-being, joy is essential to creating a better world. "It helps no one if you are sacrificing your joy because others are suffering," Archbishop Tutu says in the film. "We people who care must be attractive, must be filled with joy, so that others recognize that caring, that helping and being generous are not a burden, they are a joy."

What an appropriate message for all of us to embrace and begin to live by in the New Year!
 

The BIG JOY Project

The filmmakers have created a way for all of us to achieve more joy through The BIG JOY Project that they have undertaken with researchers at UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and Harvard. It's the world’s largest-ever citizen science project on JOY. Participating in this initiative may be our individual best opportunity to learn more about bringing more joy into our lives and the lives of others.

I encourage you to become part of this new global community of people seeking more joy in our lives by signing up here: MissionJOY.org/BIGJOY. The first thing you'll hear on their website is Arch’s infectious laugh. Participating only takes about 7 minutes of your time a day for 7 days. Participants receive feedback about what works best for them and the results of the survey help expand the science of joy around the planet. 

More than 4,500 people have already signed up — including myself! — and the team hasn’t even gone public yet. The idea was to launch this global impact initiative when the film became available for widespread viewing. At this writing, the filmmakers are still seeking distribution for this important film. I can't help but wonder if global commercial media companies are fearful of the potential for a negative response from China to a film that recognizes and celebrates the spiritual leadership of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

As one of the fortunate who has seen the film and been so deeply moved by the life-affirming, joy-filled conversation between these two great leaders — and as the former CEO of PBS and a longtime advocate for public service media — I am counting on public broadcasters around the world — PBS, the BBC and public service media everywhere — to take up this opportunity to serve the public by broadcasting this message of joy from two leaders whose lives define why joy matters in our troubled world. That message is a public service for sure.

In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "Give the world your love, your service, your healing, but you can also give it your joy. This too, is a great gift."

The film is a gift to the world, as is the BIG JOY Project. JOY is a gift each of us can give and receive! 

Watch the film trailer. Explore the BIG JOY Project. 

Onward!

-Pat