Joy

From the desk of GSSNE CEO, Dana Borrelli-Murray:

There is happiness
In our history
Across our great divide
There is a glorious sunrise
Dappled with the flickers of light
--Taylor Swift, “Happiness”

Question: What do performance review systems, Taylor Swift, a regenerative land stewardship farm, and glitter have in common?

Answer: Each recently played a role in spreading happiness and growing a sense of joy within the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England staff.

Earlier this week, GSSNE staff retreated to Newport, Rhode Island with a set of goals connecting future planning for the Movement with role clarity, competency alignment, and individual and team performance. Like last year’s retreat to the Edith Macy Conference Center, we “took a collective breath and refocused our energy on the work we need to do internally to be the strongest, most effective, and joyous team possible in service to our Girl Scouts young and old.”

This time around, joy came out on top. At least for me.

Joy is often understood as a perpetual state, an attitude that defies circumstance. It is linked to positive mental health outcomes, closer personal connections and commitments, and greater production— and it can be contagious! It can grow through moments of fun, which can lead to feelings of happiness.

Maybe it’s the season for it— I do get all jingle-bell-rock during the holidays. At work, we’ve been exploring linkages between fun, happiness, and joy and their integral role in Girl Scouting all year round. All played a central role in our organization’s development and continue to be core to the Movement’s success. With joy comes membership retention, which leads directly to our research-backed outcomes: developing the next generations of leaders with a strong sense of self and positive values, individuals who are challenge-seeking, develop healthy relationships, and take action through community problem-solving.

So essentially, joy is revolutionary and has the power to change the world. And it can start with some sparkle and fun.

Let’s step back into 1912.

In the biography, Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts, author Stacy Cordery wrote that the first Girl Scout troops included girls from many backgrounds, including many who worked in factories. I reflect on this piece of the Girl Scout creation narrative often and consider how fun, happiness, and joy showed up in the lives of young female factory workers during the turn of the century and into the Great Depression. I’m no historian, but my guess is not often- young girls facing long days of dangerous work in sub-par conditions, with limited access to education and material wealth, a time when young marriages and high rates of infant and maternal mortality cut short so many futures that were already set to perpetuate long hours on factory floors… you get the idea.

Which is why the fact that some of our very first Girl Scout troops recruited and supported these girls is so interesting, heartwarming, and radical. Girl Scouts was built from the beginning on a foundation of fun- providing outlets and opportunities that valued friendships, connections, and happiness as much as skill-building. This fun and happiness outlet had the potential to grow joy in the lives of young women who needed it, no doubt about it. But what if this joy actually changed the trajectory of some lives along the way?

During our staff retreat, we took a field trip to Ocean Hour Farm, a gorgeous property for exploring ocean health through ‘regenerative land stewardship’ and farming practices. Besides incredible partnership opportunities with our Camp Rocky Farm (only a mile away!), this visit provided us with time to think outside the box about what it means to rebuild- in their case, a farm, and in our case, a 110-year-old leadership development organization. When do you move fast? What do you retrofit? Can you learn from others before diving in yourself? Where do you take the time to make seismic shifts, measuring how the grass grows to get to the results you want to see?

In other words- when do you lead with bursts of fun, and when do you build a methodical model for a joy evolution?

This brings me to Taylor Swift.

About a month ago, I found myself sitting in a packed movie theater with 80 Girl Scouts, 500 glow sticks, and countless bags of popcorn- a special council screening of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie.

The seats were empty because for three hours, Girl Scouts danced in the aisles and sang up front near the movie screen. We posed for selfies with our larger-than-life Taylor Swift, created with the office printer- Girl Scouts are so crafty!

The night was all the things. It was a moment of fun. It was amusing and lighthearted. Happiness was its byproduct- the youth couldn’t stop smiling and laughing, and the parents who chose to stay enjoyed the new recliner seats and rest.

But there was something bigger brewing. Maybe that night, we all got swept up in the Swiftie world, built by a young woman with incredible talent and business acumen who has found just the right mix of sparkle to redefine success on a global scale. Did I mention she’s a Girl Scout alum?

Whatever it was, the joy was palpable.

This holiday season, I wish you and yours a time of renewal and retreat, filling your bucket with bursts of fun and happiness. In 2024, we change the world. The joy will be palpable.