Joy is an Inside Job: Art, Gratitude and Cultivating Resilience

What does it take to cultivate joy—not as a fleeting feeling, but as a steady presence—even in times of deep uncertainty? In this luminous conversation, Dr. Heidi Brooks is joined by psychologist and author Emma Seppälä and artist Clara Nartey to explore the resilient, regenerative power of joy. With insights drawn from neuroscience, personal experience and artistic practice, Emma and Clara reflect on how inner sovereignty—the ability to return to center amid chaos—can help us meet the world with greater creativity, calm, and connection.

From Clara's practice of beginning each day in prayerful gratitude to Emma's decades of meditation and breathwork, Heidi and her guests share how joy can be cultivated as a discipline of attention and care, and reflect on joy as an "inside job"—one that begins with how we treat ourselves and ripples outward in our relationships, our work and our communities. Together, they invite us to consider: What might it look like to build a "circle of delight" around ourselves and others—a nest of safety, authenticity and beauty?

This episode is for anyone seeking a more rooted, soulfully sustainable way to face uncertainty—and to offer something healing to the world in return.

Learning Through Experience is produced through the Yale School of Management. What resonates with you about this conversation? We'd love to hear from you—reach out to LTEpodcast@yale.edu. And subscribe to the monthly LinkedIn newsletter for additional insights and reflections about episode topics and questions to ponder.

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Resources Read "Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos" by Emma Seppälä See Clara Nartey's artwork, including her "Joy of Living" installation at Yale School of Management's Evans Hall  Follow Emma's Psychology Today blog series, "Feeling It"  Listen to Clara's first Learning Through Experience conversation with Dr. Heidi Brooks: "The Power of Art to Cultivate Joy"

Show Notes & Key Moments 00:00 – Welcome Back to Joy

Heidi sets the stage for a conversation about joy as a practice of resilience during uncertain times–and a shared realization that joy often appears where you least expect it.

02:14 – Boarding School, Pandemic, and the Birth of Joy

Clara shares how hardship shaped her commitment to joy: "You either succumb to the situation—or find a way out using joy."

03:42 – Inner Wealth, Outer Poverty

Emma reflects on cultures where joy thrives in the absence of material wealth: "You can't put the human spirit down."