Joy Can Survive Uncertainty Without Turning Loss Into Gain
At a live taping of The Happiness Lab at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Kate Bowler, the Duke religious historian and author of Joyful, Anyway, argued that joy is not the payoff for suffering well or getting life under control. In conversation with Yale psychologist Laurie Santos, Bowler rejected the cultural pressure to turn loss into growth, gratitude or self-improvement, making the case that joy can survive alongside grief, uncertainty and unfinishedness precisely because it does not require denial.
The Aspen Institute·Jun 27, 2026·19 min read
