Key points

Joy and trauma are not mutually exclusive.

Joy is an essential healing tool post-trauma.

Even brief, simple pleasures can begin to rewire the brain and offer a sense of safety.

If someone had told me a few years ago that joy was the missing piece in trauma healing, I would have laughed. Or cursed. Probably both.

Conventional wisdom says that trauma and joy are opposites — that they can’t possibly coexist. You have to process your pain, survive the grief , and manage the symptoms. Then, and only then, do you get to earn joy, as if it’s some kind of reward waiting at the finish line.

But in reality, trauma and joy are not enemies. They sit right next to each other. Joy doesn’t wait politely for your wounds to close — it often breaks in right alongside the pain. It’s th

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