Permission to Be Happy: Why Your Joy Matters More Than You Think

Your suffering doesn't serve anyone—but your radiance might.

How can we be happy in a world that’s full of suffering?

Life on Earth can be excruciatingly hard.

Scarcity, wars, cruelty… the list goes on. And that's just the worst of it.

Even if we dodge the darkest tragedies, no one gets a pass on grief. Everyone who lives long enough will taste loss.

Everyone.

And maybe—just maybe—that's by design.

🤔 I love the idea of Earth as a soul's boot camp: We grow through limitation and constraint. But must growth require grinding struggle? What if we could evolve through joy instead of despite suffering?

The weight of others’ pain

If your own life isn’t hard, you can always point to someone else who’s going through a hard time.

In a world of 8.1 billion people—and countless suffering animals—happiness can feel like you’re doing something wrong.

Cultural conditioning reinforces this:

Religious frameworks teach us about original sin or that life is suffering. Growing up, we learn about starving artists and the idea that without pain, there’s no gain. History class is essentially a collection of hardship, atrocities, and tragedy.

Given all this, it’s no wonder that thriving can be challenging to accept. When life does flow easily, people often react with:

• Disbelief ("This can't last")

• Dis-ease ("Why isn't this harder?")

• Guilt ("Who am I to thrive?")

Let's name that last one for what it is: a lie.

A lesson in sharing joy from my late godfather ❤️

I once spoke with my beloved godfather when he was near death (thinking about this still makes me cry). During our call, I carefully avoided mentioning anything positive in my life or future plans. I thought I was being kind.

But my godfather stopped me. He wanted to hear about the good things. My joy wasn't hurting him—it was reminding him of the beauty of life.

Most people are like my godfather. Those who genuinely want others to be miserable are either deeply hurt or cruel. And dimming our light serves neither.

In math, minus times minus equals plus.

Math:  (-)*(-)= +

That’s just not how it works with energy. When it comes to energy and emotions, minus times minus equals… more minus. Suffering multiplied by suffering creates more suffering. It’s a downward spiral.

Energy/emotion:  (-)*(-)= downward spiral

Your thriving, on the other hand, creates positive ripples in the world:

• Your genuine smile might brighten someone's day,

• Your peaceful presence can calm a tense room,

• Your courage to live fully might others to do the same.

An invitation to thrive

If you want to give yourself permission to thrive, you can. Any day, any time.

And sometimes, it’s easier to be guided through the process. That’s why I created this journey for you and other deep souls.

Permission to Thrive is a gentle, 6-day email-based experience that originally culminated on the June Solstice. 🌞 However, it is now an evergreen journey so you can take it whenever you like.

During this time, you will receive daily permission slips to:

• Begin (messily and imperfectly),

• Change direction when you feel called to do so,

• Rest and rejuvenate,

• Be multi-passionate instead of fitting in a box,

• Succeed your way (not following someone else’s blueprint).

Each permission slip arrives with a small practice, a journaling prompt, and a dose of encouragement.

This experience includes:

• 🌱 Daily permission slips (10 minutes of soul-nourishing reflection),

• 💫 An optional ritual (recorded on the June Solstice) to help you release old stories and start writing new ones, and

• 🤍 The energy of joyful growth.

This journey begins whenever you are ready—and it's my gift to you.

👉 Say yes to thriving: save your seat here

The joyful revolution

Photo by Michael Glazier on Unsplash

Go ahead and give yourself permission to be happy.
To live a good life.
To enjoy all the good things this world has to offer.

Saying yes to thriving is more than okay. Your joy is a light in this world. And we need more light, not less.

📖 Further reading: For those called to alleviate suffering while thriving: I share about effective ways to donate in this article. 

Warmly,
Louise

P.S.: Here’s the link again for “Permission to Thrive: A Guided Journey to Reclaim Your Spark”.