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This week (10-17 October) is Mental Health Awareness Week at Adelaide Uni. I’ve been thinking a lot about what ‘good’ mental health looks and feels like, and it strikes me that an essential aspect of that puzzle is joy, in whatever form it might take.

So, what brings me joy? Truthfully, I’m not sure it’s that simple. Joy is somehow distinct from happiness, or if not distinct, at least more concentrated; more unconscious, more all-consuming.

For me, joy isn’t in a singularly identifiable thing. Rather, it’s a feeling, a warmth – the kind I feel when I’m sat around the woodfire, watching a film with my family, or when I’m at my favourite beach in summer with my friends, exhausted (in the best way) from frolicking in the water. It’s more than just a moment, though. It's feeling known, like I'm really part of myself; awake, with the sun on my skin, everything around me forming into something intangible, almost otherworldly. That’s joy: our most inexhaustible and sustaining resource.  

So, this week, spend some time thinking about what it is that brings you joy, and go and find it.  

More information, including events taking place throughout the week on campus, can be found on the Wellbeing Hub.

Want to have a say in the development of the University’s new Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy? Check out the focus group taking place on campus this week on .