Open Mic (compliments of Tao Comedy Studios)

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Welcome to Week #572!

It’s been eleven years since you left us…and four years since I stopped blogging weekly.

In the wake of the pandemic and the unrest that followed — I found myself struggling with the notion that Happyness might be perceived as frivolous, shallow, or worse…toxic.

And then…as the years ticked on, one at a time, I realized how much I missed it (the blogging and the Happyness). And so, every anniversary, I’ve managed to post a yearly reflection:

Week #416 – A Year Without Happyness (Reflections at the Eight Year Mark)
Week #468 – On Grief and Happyness (Reflections at the Nine-Year Mark)
Week #521 – Regret and Happyness (Reflections at the Ten-Year Mark)

I have to be honest, I thought last year might be the end of it. The Ten-Year mark. A nice bookend on a decade of Grief and Happyness.

But as this anniversary approached…the tension within me built. What more could I possibly have to say about life, love, and the pursuit of Happyness?

Well, it’s been five hundred and seventy two weeks since that first post…and I’m here to tell you, I’m still fighting for Happyness!

Last year, after an already difficult writer’s strike in 2023, and then losing Jim’s mom and my mom back-to-back…I seriously thought I lost my words, too. I wasn’t just struggling to write (or reflect) on Happyness…I was struggling to write ANYTHING.

And every month that passed the world just seemed to get louder and darker, while I got smaller and quieter. On the outside, I was the same gregarious Grace…but inside, something was changing. And not for the better.

Where does Happyness fit in to all of this?

Well…let me tell you: This past January, after months of working on a darker more personal project, Jim and I decided to shake the dust off our deep reflections and signed up for a comedy class. “Just for fun.” Because, you know, we wanted to start 2025 off laughing.

Turned out, 2025 laughed right back at us! Our first day of class was postponed due to the LA fires. And in subsequent weeks, while we obediently sat in class trying to “find the funny” — the fires raged, administrations changed, and the world felt more and more fragile by the day.

And that was just January.

If Happyness ever seemed toxic to me…laughter felt downright illegal.

That’s when it hit me. After being around comics for just a few weeks, I noticed something…they never deny the darkness that surrounds them. They just poke holes in it until the light comes in!

So we kept poking and prodding. And in a few short weeks I found myself on stage delivering my very first stand-up set. I concluded with the true story of a recent doctor’s visit (where I left empty-handed)…and the line: “they say laughter is the best medicine…but these days I think defiant laughter is even better medicine!”

And in that moment, my world turned on a dime. Because as everyone applauded and I exited the stage…for the first time in a long while, everything felt right. The world may be dark…but dammit I’m gonna poke and poke and poke until I let in some light!

Then, in the months that followed, the most amazing thing happened…I started writing again. Not just jokes and screenplays…but I started to work on my book again. And now, this blog!

It’s been five hundred and seventy two weeks since you left us.

I don’t stop counting. I don’t forget. And I don’t let go (even though many have suggested I do). I carry that moment (and the weeks and years that followed) with me. That moment your world went dark…and somehow still, Spread Happyness was born!

Now, as I enter another year and a new decade without you, wondering what it all means…where we’re headed…or how it will all turn out, I’m reassured and redefined by two new words: Defiant Laughter.

Because the world may get dark…but I’m going down laughing!

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Defiant Laughter!!! There is no doubt, our world is serious right now. There are real threats, real dangers, and real consequences to our collective actions. Don’t let the darkness win. Keep poking, and poking, and poking…until you let the light in!

To life! To love!! To Happyness!!! (And Defiant Laughter!)

9/05/25 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com