Everyone is going through something. Everyone is carrying burdens. We're bringing back the art of simple kindness.
Learn our storyWe missed our flight to summer camp and got stuck at the airport overnight. We could have wallowed in our disappointment. Honestly, we almost did. Instead, we decided to go bring a little joy to the people around us.
And something happened. We lost sight of our sadness.
That's when it clicked. Everyone is going through something. Everyone is carrying heavy burdens. There's this art that's been lost, this simple kindness. Just talking to people and seeing them made us realize how you can make an impact regardless of where you are or who you are with.
Even a small act of joy affects everyone who walks there. It's not just about the person you're helping. It impacts the whole neighborhood, the whole community. And it impacts you too.
Joy Heals Us is a place to find your community and go do something good. Informal. Accessible. And even spontaneous. Just text your friends and whoever shows up, you're doing it. Take action and serve others with joy.
Because joy heals the person you give it to. And it heals you right back.
Friends.
Joy Heals Us inspires, equips, and encourages simple acts that make someone's day and heal the giver in the process.
A world where spreading joy is a default, not an exception. Where "Joy Heals Us" means something in every city the way "Be Kind" means something in Richmond.
Every person we pass is going through something we can't see.
It heals the person you give it to, and it heals you right back.
A hello at the register. An act of kindness. The small things are the thing.
Informal. Accessible. A group of friends and a free afternoon is enough to start.
We're not inventing kindness. We're bringing back something our generation was never really taught.
We didn't start this from a place of having it all together. We started it on a hard day. Giving joy is how we got through it. It's how we turned our focus outward to others instead of towards ourselves.
A growing library of simple acts. Pick one. Text a friend. Whoever shows up, you're doing it.
got one we haven't thought of?
A wall of joy in other people's words. Swipe through. Keep the ones that stand out to you.
Moments from the movement — some ours, some other people's.
The origin
We missed our flight to summer camp in Charlottesville. Our parents had already driven home. We were standing in line, realizing this was going to be hours.
So we sat at the coloring table with the little kids. We sat on our suitcases in sunglasses. And then we thought of Mission Impossible — your mission, if you choose to accept it — and started sending missions to our friends all over the country. High-five ten people. Recreate this dance. Make a music video.
We ended up interviewing strangers at the gate. Most of them lit up. One pilot loved it so much he stopped to give us ideas. We danced to Cotton Eye Joe in the terminal.
We never made that flight. But something shifted. We'd taken a bad situation and made it into something we still talk about at school. That's when we realized: this could be a thing.
December 2024
We went caroling for shut-ins. A few friends, a printed setlist, cold air. We didn't overthink it, we just went to be merry.
At one stop, a woman opened her door, and as we sang she started crying. Her tears were overwhelming and beautiful. She just stood there and let it wash over her.
We went into caroling thinking, this will be fun. We came out knowing something else. Small things do bigger work than you think. Our song affected her. Now her joy fuels us.
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