I have been thinking about the number of times I have laughed so hard snot flew from my nose and tears came to my eyes. I have been thinking about the magnetism of joyous people. I have been thinking about the sound of children on a playground. I have been thinking about the look on my nieces’ faces when they showed me their new puppy on Christmas. I have been thinking about how joy can win in the face of anger, cruelty, and despair. It simply must. Joyful people fill our hearts. Joyful sounds resonate beyond what words can explain. Joy is big and powerful. I want more joy in my life.

Novelist Justine Musk believes that joy is as vital to life as air. Ultimately, she says our survival as a species depends on our ability to be joyous, innovative, fearless, and creative. I agree with her. Musk explores the idea that we are all entrepreneurs of our own lives. Musk summarizes, “Creative joy — if you’re willing to listen to it — is the unifying thread that stitches together a sacred fabric conceived in the precious corners or our imagination.

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur in a life guided by creative joy? Several things must happen along the road to creative joy.

An entrepreneur guided by creative joy must:

Research creative joy

My doctoral dissertation focused on the existential concept of wide-awakeness. (Creative joy is a conceptual sister of wide-awakeness.) I looked at the role of the high school drama teacher in creating the capacity for wide-awakeness. Thinking back to my own profound high school drama experience, my life was changed and saved by the fire that was awakened as I felt the power of being a cast member, the rhythm of the music as we danced, and the resonance of the lyrics and lines we performed. It all happened with a gentle and fierce intensity reserved for moments when a soul burns. I was the teen embodiment of creative joy. Now, my researcher’s gaze pays attention to creative joy in my day-to-day life.

Know creative joy

Having researched creative joy, the next step is to know creative joy. Knowing creative joy means being able to sense joy in the very synapses of our beings, to have identified moments when we feel so incredibly joyful that our muscles remember the experience. This is theory-building time in which we personalize what creative joy is for each of us. This is where theory builds from personal experience. It is the intersection of awareness and presence. It is the being both in and of experience. Is it a walking alongside the ocean kind of joy. Is it a hearing a cat’s purr kind of joy. Is it eating a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie kind of joy? (Each of us needs to know our personal joy story.)

Create creative joy

This is the moment where theory meets practice, where thought meets action, where we put up or shut up. To create means to build, construct, and manifest creative joy in our lives. It is not enough to sit behind a computer screen and think about creative joy. We must get out there and live joyfully. It means creating something every single day. It means reaching out to others as both a creative and spiritual being. It means living out a creative and joyful mission. (Researching and knowing your creative and joyful selves is central to defining your mission, and ultimately to living your mission.)

Protect creative joy

Once cultivated, honoring, and holding creative joy close is vital. Pressure and stress in day-to-day life do not lend themselves to creative joy. Turn toward joy. Move in the direction of joy. Choose joy. Seeking joy in the face of doubt and fear and cynicism is part of the challenge of creative joy. Most joy is thwarted not because of big explosions of chaos and conflict, but rather because of the slow ooze of hunger, anger, loneliness, and fatigue.

Share creative joy

Intentionally sharing our creative and joyful selves is the heart of Musk’s call. Living as creative and joyful entrepreneurs means our mission and work are not separate. In working, we are multiplying creative joy and responding to our deepest call. In sharing creative joy, we are building a more just and loving world.