Why Small Joys Are the Building Blocks Back to You

If finding your way back to you is a priority in 2026, I’ve got one really important piece of advice - Stop looking to the future and start creating daily micro-moments of joy — because they quietly snowball into something much, MUCH bigger ❤️

We’ve been sold the idea that happiness arrives with a big reveal.
A life-changing decision.
A bold leap.
A “someday” moment when everything finally clicks.

But real change? It usually starts far more quietly.

There’s huge momentum in simply putting one foot in front of the other. Consistently.

Finding ways to enjoy rather than endure parts of your day.
Making one small tweak to your wardrobe or makeup bag.
Decluttering one drawer. One corner. One room.

These small acts of renewal spark little flickers of joy — and those flickers light the touch paper for braver, bolder things.

I know how easy it is to dismiss that. To tell yourself what’s the point — it’s not enough.
But your nervous system doesn’t care about grand gestures. It responds to safety, pleasure, colour, beauty and familiarity — repeated often enough to matter.

And this isn’t just a “nice idea”. There’s real research behind it.

The science of small joy

In recent years, researchers at King’s College London have been at the forefront of studying how everyday engagement with art and culture affects our mental wellbeing.

Their findings (alongside wider UK and global research) consistently show that regular exposure to art — not elite, inaccessible art, but everyday visual and creative experiences — is linked to reduced stress, improved mood, and greater emotional resilience.

Not curing life.
Not fixing everything overnight.
But gently supporting us to cope better, feel more regulated, and experience more positive emotional states in the middle of very normal, very messy lives.

And that’s the key point.

The biggest benefits don’t come from once-in-a-lifetime gallery trips or profound artistic breakthroughs. They come from small, repeated interactions with colour, form, beauty and meaning.

In other words: micro-moments.

A piece of art you walk past ten times a day.
A colour that lifts your mood without you consciously noticing.
The way a special piece of clothing or jewellery makes you feel invincible.
Time spent with a loved one — or even a positive interaction with a stranger.

They all add up.

When joy feels hard (because sometimes it does)

And yes — before anyone says it — I know it’s not always that easy.

So be kind to yourself.
Have a bad day.
Eat crisps for breakfast.
Stay in your PJs till noon.
Whinge all day because the child kept you up all night 😵💫

Nothing is perfect.
You’ll try again tomorrow — or the day after.

Break free of those negative thought patterns that default back to “well, what’s the point — I’ve lost momentum now” and just keep going.
You don’t lose momentum by skipping a day — or even a week.
You lose momentum when you stop trying altogether.

Daily effort sounds hard. But trust me — it’s far easier than waiting for a big, life-changing moment that’s meant to fix everything… and feeling crushed when it doesn’t arrive on your perfect timeline — or at all.

Joy lives in the here and now.
And it’s in the present that we usually find what we’ve been looking for all along ❤️

Practical ways to find micro-moments of joy (that actually stick)

This isn’t about forcing positivity or pretending everything’s fine.
It’s about stacking the deck gently in your favour.

1. Make your environment work for you

Your surroundings affect your mood far more than you realise. The things you live with every day are constantly feeding information to your nervous system — subtly lifting (or lowering) your emotional baseline over time.

As women, we carry a lot. Career pressure. Parenting demands. Hormone shifts. Emotional fatigue. Mental load on top of mental load. We need somewhere to retreat to — a space that feels safe, re-energising and quietly inspiring.

But if you’re a parent, a busy career-driven woman — or both — your home often slips to the bottom of the priority list. It becomes functional, chaotic, uninspiring. Something to manage rather than enjoy.

The good news? You don’t need to overhaul everything.

Start small.
One corner. One drawer. One surface.

Maybe it’s your kitchen counter or your work desk — a space you tend to daily because it makes you feel mentally lighter as you start the day. You’d be surprised by the lift that brings.

2. Choose colour on purpose

Colour isn’t just decoration. It’s communication.

It affects how we feel, how alert we are, how calm or energised we become — often before we’ve had a chance to think about it logically.

And no, this doesn’t mean repainting the house or committing to a whole new “look”. That’s overwhelming and unnecessary.

It can be as small as a cushion, a mug, a print, a lampshade, a swipe of lipstick. One intentional choice that feels like you — not who you think you should be, but who you are right now.

Tiny injections of colour act like emotional nudges. Quiet reminders that life doesn’t have to feel flat, even on ordinary days.

3. Create tiny rituals that lift you

You don’t need to suddenly decide you’re going to start knitting or Tai Chi to find a daily lift. Hobbies can be a joy — but they can also become a burden. They take time, energy, money… and sometimes we’re just too mentally burnt out to follow through.

So the wool sits in the corner, silently judging you.
No joy.

Instead, focus on tiny rituals you can actually sustain.
A quiet cup of coffee in your favourite spot before the kids wake.
The same euphoric playlist in the car.
A blast of cold water in the shower to kick-start your endorphins.

Repetition creates safety — and safety creates space for joy.

4. Let joy be inefficient

Joy doesn’t have to be productive.
You don’t need to earn it.
It doesn’t have to transform you or lead anywhere useful.

Allow yourself to drift. To daydream. To potter. To doodle. To stare at something beautiful. To imagine what it might feel like to knock through that interior wall.

We’re so used to measuring everything by output and outcomes that we forget: rest, beauty and pleasure have value simply because they make life feel more bearable — sometimes even enjoyable.

That’s reason enough.

5. Create gentler transitions

Most of us pack our days wall-to-wall. Chores. Work. Errands. Child-related admin. Life admin. And then somehow we’re meant to squeeze in a moment of “self-care” if there’s a nano-second left over.

Lurching from one thing to the next like this can leave your nervous system permanently on edge. It creates rushing, dread and low-level overwhelm — even when nothing particularly bad is happening. We’re not robots. Our bodies aren’t designed to function like this.

Instead of pushing harder, try softening the edges of your day.

Build in small transitions that give your mind and body a chance to catch up before the next thing begins. A shower. A short walk. A cup of tea. A few pages of a book or magazine.

Nothing elaborate. Nothing performative.

Just enough to keep your reward centers topped up as you move through your day.

Small joys aren’t insignificant.
They’re the building blocks of brighter days, steadier minds and braver choices.

They’re not a distraction from real life.
They’re what make real life feel liveable.

Krissy xx