We live in a moment of profound complexity, one in which both science and spirituality describe the world not as a closed system but as an intricate, interconnected web of relationships. Neuroscience, psychology, and theology converge around a surprising insight: human beings are not only shaped by joy, we are shaped through the giving of it. Joy is not merely an internal feeling—it is a relational force, growing stronger the more it moves outward.
The Joy Exchange builds upon this understanding by offering a simple but radical experiment: What if joy is designed to circulate? What if the surest way to keep joy is to give it away?
To explore this question, Dr. Kate Bowler will convene a series of intimate, high-impact dinners with cultural leaders—authors, founders, actors, artists, scientists, philanthropists, and spiritual thinkers—who will consider joy not only as an emotion but as a social and moral practice. This project draws on Sir John Templeton’s enduring insight: “To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.” Contemporary research echoes this claim: emotions like awe, gratitude, and compassion expand our capacity for connection, deepen resilience, and reliably inspire prosocial action.
Each gathering invites participants to consider Sir John’s guiding question: How might we discover greater joy through the act of giving it away? At its heart, this project understands joy as a gift and a task—an experience that commissions us to meet the needs of others with openness and abundance.
Through guided storytelling, shared rituals, conceptual language, and unguarded conversation, these evenings create a rare space where emotional honesty and intellectual generosity make joy—both given and received—possible. The aim is for these encounters to spark enduring connections and send participants back into their communities with a renewed ethic of joyful service and resources for public articulation, multiplying its impact far beyond the table.
