Joy, Despite It All

w: Johnathon E. Briggs

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    • Joy, Despite It All

    — December 31, 2025 —

    Two weeks ago, the folks at Merriam-Webster named their 2025 Word of the Year: slop. Not the kind ladled onto cafeteria trays in old prison movies. This slop refers to the tidal wave of low-quality digital content churned out by artificial intelligence.

    But while the dictionary gatekeepers chose slop, I’ve chosen a shorter and sweeter word: joy.

    If words were prayers, then joy is the one I’m lifting up for 2026—for myself, for you, for us. Joy feels like sunlight through leaves, laughter bursting from the belly, that song you forgot you loved. Joy is what it feels like to breathe deeply and, in that moment, know you are alive and enough.

    Merriam-Webster defines joy as “a feeling of great happiness or pleasure.” But 2025 didn’t overflow with either. Everyone I know seems worn thin, exhausted by a world ravaged by division and war, littered with headlines about humanity at its worst. Words like dystopia and evil come too easily to mind.

    It’s no wonder that “touch grass” was a finalist for Word of the Year. Defined as “to participate in normal activities in the real world, especially as opposed to online experiences and interactions,” it’s a modern reminder to step away from the algorithm and remember what’s real.

    For me, joy lives in the grass. And in 2025, it looked like:

    • Our annual trek through the illuminated forest at The Morton Arboretum, my daughter’s face bathed in color and awe.
    • Losing myself in The Wonder of Stevie podcast and rediscovering the genius of Stevie Wonder.
    • Watching fireworks bloom in a night sky on the Fourth of July with my wife and daughter, a glow stick bouncing around my neck.
    • Daddy-daughter bike rides through DuPage County trails in the thick of summer.
    • Celebrating my wife’s wins for the clients she helps.
    • My daughter boarding the school bus for her first day of sixth grade. Middle school. Already.

    But the highlight of 2025? That goes to what I now call “The Big Ass Birthday Balloon.”

    The day before my daughter’s 11th birthday, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision at the grocery store to buy her a massive balloon shaped like a cupcake. It looked smaller from a distance (I swear), but turned out to be two giant balloons stacked together — a “Happy Birthday” base with a frosting-shaped top — and it absolutely did not want to fit into my car.

    I panicked. I had to pick my daughter up from her after school spot before 6 p.m., and it was already 5:50. It took three frantic minutes to solve the problem: recline the backseat, scoot the passenger seat forward, and wedge the whole ridiculous thing inside.

    As I closed the door, I overheard a cart attendant in the parking lot say to his coworker, “I’m surprised he got it in there.”

    Same, kid. Same.

    From spirituals sung in cotton fields to cookouts, dance floors, and drum circles, joy has always been our refusal to be broken. It’s not an escape from struggle; it’s a weapon against it.

    My rearview was completely blocked by mylar, but the mission was accomplished. I made it to my daughter with two minutes to spare.

    When my daughter opened the passenger door, she couldn’t stop giggling. She had to ride up front because the back seat was all frosting and helium. The entire drive home she kept saying, “Daddy, I can’t stop laughing. There’s a balloon in the backseat!”

    Neither could I. That five-minute drive was the purest joy of my year.

    Later, I took a picture of her standing next to the balloon. Nearly five feet tall. Her and the balloon. I smile every time I see it.

    I didn’t read for pleasure as much as I’d hoped this year. But I did read the chapter on joy in We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson.

    She writes about joy not just as a feeling but as resistance. From spirituals sung in cotton fields to cookouts, dance floors, and drum circles, joy has always been our refusal to be broken. It’s not an escape from struggle; it’s a weapon against it.

    One quote that’s stayed with me came not from Jackson, but from The Tiny Joy Project by Jasmine Wilder that read:

    “There’s a tree in your neighborhood that’s older than your worries.
    There’s a star above your head that hasn’t missed a single night.
    You’re surrounded by things that know how to stay.”

    Yes, the headlines are heavy. But there’s also this:

    • The giggle of a child in a car full of balloons.
    • A bike ride through green and gold.
    • The squeeze of a hug on Christmas.

    That’s the world, too.

    So here’s to more joy in 2026.

    Not the loud, performative type, but the quiet, rooted kind.

    The kind that keeps showing up.

    The kind that stays.

    Happy New Year!

    836 words

    12.31.25

    Johnathon E. BriggsHusband • Father • Storyteller • #BlackDadMagic • ΑΦΑ

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    About

    Few may know this, but twice as many dads of newborns today are now in the 40-plus age group, compared to the 1970s. Six weeks before my 40th birthday, I became a first-time father, hence the title of this blog.

    This life-changing moment made me think about my own dad, who became a father at 43. As my parenthood journey unfolded, I noticed that most of my friends had become parents earlier in life yet, here I was, changing diapers and battling sleep deprivation at (nearly) 40. I told my wife, “Parenting is definitely a young man’s game.” But is it really?

    Where most of my friends were preparing for their children’s middle and high school graduations, I was mastering the art of the swaddle, perfecting the one-hand baby wipe, and learning to decipher my daughter’s gurgles and whimpers. It occurred to me that I had so much more to offer my daughter at the sure-footed age of 40 than I did at, say, 28, when I was still coming into my own.

    Fatherhood@Forty: Memoirs of a Gen X Suburban Dad™ is a creative outlet to share my experiences and connect with other (relatively) late-in-life dads.

    Here are a few factoids about me, Johnathon Briggs, the editor behind this blog:

    • I’m a former journalist (Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune).
    • I love exploring Chicago and the Midwest with my family.
    • I remain on a constant quest to stay fit.
    • I support charities that fight HIV, uplift families affected by incarceration, and ensure African American boys graduate from college.
    • I’m a comic book geek (mostly Marvel, but a bit of DC and Image Comics).
    • I’m a child of the ‘80s, so please expect occasional references to the Golden Age of Hip-Hop.

    As a reporter for daily newspapers, I had the opportunity to interview fascinating people and to test out great products and brands for my readers. I hope to do the same for you as I blog about the moments that make up this adventure called fatherhood.

    Feel free to tweet (@fatherhoodforty) or email (fatherhoodforty@gmail.com) me if you’d like to collaborate or have ideas for a blog post.

    Father on,

    P.S. Check out The Art of Conversation podcast interview I did with Art Eddy from Life of Dad.

     

    Disclaimer: Fatherhood@Forty may contain affiliate marketing links, which may result in commission on sales of products or services I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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    About

    Few may know this, but twice as many dads of newborns today are now in the 40-plus age group, compared to the 1970s. Six weeks before my 40th birthday, I became a first-time father, hence the title of this blog.

    This life-changing moment made me think about my own dad, who became a father at 43. As my parenthood journey unfolded, I noticed that most of my friends had become parents earlier in life yet, here I was, changing diapers and battling sleep deprivation at (nearly) 40. I told my wife, “Parenting is definitely a young man’s game.” But is it really?

    Where most of my friends were preparing for their children’s middle and high school graduations, I was mastering the art of the swaddle, perfecting the one-hand baby wipe, and learning to decipher my daughter’s gurgles and whimpers. It occurred to me that I had so much more to offer my daughter at the sure-footed age of 40 than I did at, say, 28, when I was still coming into my own.

    Fatherhood@Forty: Memoirs of a Gen X Suburban Dad™ is a creative outlet to share my experiences and connect with other (relatively) late-in-life dads.

    Here are a few factoids about me, Johnathon Briggs, the editor behind this blog:

    • I’m a former journalist (Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune).
    • I love exploring Chicago and the Midwest with my family.
    • I remain on a constant quest to stay fit.
    • I support charities that fight HIV, uplift families affected by incarceration, and ensure African American boys graduate from college.
    • I’m a comic book geek (mostly Marvel, but a bit of DC and Image Comics).
    • I’m a child of the ‘80s, so please expect occasional references to the Golden Age of Hip-Hop.

    As a reporter for daily newspapers, I had the opportunity to interview fascinating people and to test out great products and brands for my readers. I hope to do the same for you as I blog about the moments that make up this adventure called fatherhood.

    Feel free to tweet (@fatherhoodforty) or email (fatherhoodforty@gmail.com) me if you’d like to collaborate or have ideas for a blog post.

    Father on,

    P.S. Check out The Art of Conversation podcast interview I did with Art Eddy from Life of Dad.

     

    Disclaimer: Fatherhood@Forty may contain affiliate marketing links, which may result in commission on sales of products or services I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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