Yet what I learned in Iceland is that scientific knowledge doesn’t always preclude magical interpretation. Even if we understand the logic behind the magnetic disturbance of the aurora or the geothermal cauldron of the hot springs, encountering them in certain circumstances can open a gap between our cognitive understanding and the sensory reality

Where you are. Whom you are with. What you are doing. What sights, sounds, aromas, textures, or flavors are associated with your joy.

Another idea comes from filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron, who considered a round table essential for a dinner party because it brings a group together in a single conversation. It also allows guests to see one another’s facial expressions, much the way the amphitheater-style seating did at the Oscars.

You can use this book as a field guide to spotting and savoring more joy in your surroundings, to help you gain a better understanding of why certain things and places light you up inside. And you can also use it as a palette, to design and craft more joy into your world.

By hiding delightful things for ourselves and others to discover, we become a bit like squirrels, caching joy so that we can reap its rewards at a future date.

“I think many of us hide behind an idea of good taste,” she said, “because we’re afraid to really be ourselves.”

I wanted to make things that changed people’s lives for the better. I was obsessed with finding ways to make my products ergonomic, functional, and eco-friendly.

While traditional spiritual teachings aim to remedy this state through inward-looking activities such as prayer and meditation, I find the research on awe powerful because it suggests that we can find a way to access the sacred side of life by looking around us.

I’ve since learned that I’m not the only one who secrets away mementos in hidden places.