A review by donnawr1
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Douglas Carlton Abrams, Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama XIV

4.0

A good book for the times to help us redirect our world view so pretty much anyone can find joy in life. There are lots of good quippy things said by these two renowned spiritual leaders, along with a little bit of neuroscience to back up why these things actually make us feel better. It was interesting to see leaders in such different religious traditions shared so many approaches to living life and enjoying it to the fullest. They reflect on what keeps us from being joyful (different than happy) and then came up with 8 pillars of joy: perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude compassion and generosity. One major theme is to not focus on ourselves, but in doing for others, we feel more at peace with our own lives. The two men also provide joy practices that they use to help live this joyful spiritual life that are worth reading section by section with the book. Lots to think about and be inspired by, although there is a lot of text related to the semantics of their visit which didn't add as much to the overall theme and conversation.