Reminder:

If you get exhausted and burn out and give up, you lose. If you stay in, you win. Just by existing, you win!

So taking little breaks for joy is fine! Good actually!

Helping other people find joy, gives you joy too! Joy is not conserved! The laws of thermodynamics have nothing to say about joy!

@mekkaokereke English pulled in "schadenfreude" as soon as that option was on the table, but left "mudita"? - literally "vicarious happiness", taking happiness from the happiness of others - just sitting there barely used? Come on, anglos, there's a word for this! You can use it, that's allowed!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudita

Mudita - Wikipedia

@mhoye @mekkaokereke that's a nice one! A similar emotion that I'd learned about, especially as it relates to joy in parents from their children's success or happiness, is "naches":

https://www.learnreligions.com/the-yiddish-word-dictionary-2076346

9 Common Yiddish Words or Terms in English

Many Yiddish words have made their way into American English. These "Yinglish" terms often evoke warmth, irony, hardship, and strong family ties.

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@mhoye @mekkaokereke

Mudita: Muditā is a dharmic concept of joy, particularly an especially sympathetic or vicarious joy—the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being.

I most definitely plan to use this new-to-me term.

Furthering the OPs point: the enemies of mudita and joy are jealousy, envy, and greed - the core values of exploitative capitalism. Joy, especially mudita, is a radical and counter-cultural practice.

@DavidM_yeg @mhoye @mekkaokereke great! A word for the opposite of Schadenfreude: Mudita. Taking pleasure in someone else's pleasure!

Thanks!!

@EvelineSulman This is great. I need to integrate it into my active vocabulary. @DavidM_yeg @mhoye @mekkaokereke
@mhoye oh these Canadians and their overly sunny ways ...
@mhoye
As a (probably) cis man, this is me when I see people posting about the joy of being trans
it's just this beautifully simple "other people being simply happy makes me happy"
@mekkaokereke
@mhoye @mekkaokereke Have you met any English people? Why on Earth would we want a word for that? :-)
We are happy sometimes but we don't want to make any fuss, so we do our very best to hide it.
@mhoye @mekkaokereke
There is already an English word for that - "confelicity"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/confelicity
confelicity - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Wiktionary