How to make daily life more joyful
Ever wondered why we stop to watch the sunset? Or why we love to see spring flowers bloom? Or why balloons make us smile?

Joy is the most basic building block of happiness and it's something we can all experience regardless of our gender, age, culture or ethnicity. But we need to prioritise it.

At this special event, designer and author Ingrid Fetell Lee will share how making small changes to your surroundings can create extraordinary happiness in your life. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she'll reveal how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising effects on our mood.

An emerging body of research shows a clear link between our surroundings and our mental health. Ingrid will explain how you can harness the power of your environment to live a fuller, healthier and more joyful life. Her ideas will open your eyes to the places where joy is hiding in plain sight and remind you that our greatest source of joy is the world around us.

* Warning: this event may cause unexpected bouts of joy! *

This conversation with Dr Mark Williamson was recorded at a live Action for Happiness 8th of November 2023.

About the speaker

Ingrid Fetell Lee is a designer and author whose groundbreaking work reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and wellbeing. She is the author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, and the founder of The Aesthetics of Joy. Ingrid empowers people to find more joy in life and work through design. Her immensely popular TED talk “Where Joy Hides and How to Find it” has been viewed more than 17 million times. She's been featured in lots of publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, The Atlantic and the Today Show. Ingrid has over 15 of experience in design and branding, having led design programs. She was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University. Ingrid loves pancakes, polka dots, and rainbow sprinkles, and has an extensive repertoire of happy dances for any occasion!