Joy in The Making - Making with Meaning YouTube Video Series

What is JOY? 

For a long time, I was confused about what joy really meant.

If I felt happy, I assumed that was joy.
If I was upbeat, productive, and smiling—surely that must be joy too.

But that is just happiness. I’ve learned it's fleeting. It rises and falls with circumstances, and the more I paid attention, the more I understood that my happiest moments didn’t always carry the depth I sensed joy was supposed to have.

That realization mattered—especially as a faith-driven maker!

When it came time to create something that represented joy, I felt stuck.

Something deeper was missing.

The Turning Point: Redefining Joy

The shift happened when I stopped asking, What does joy look like?
And started asking, What is joy really?

I discovered that joy isn’t a feeling you stumble into when life goes well. It’s a steady, rooted posture. I find my strength in God and knowing His promises gives me that solid ground of understanding. A quiet strength. A chosen trust that remains even when emotions change.

Joy isn’t loud.
It isn’t fragile....
And it isn’t dependent on everything being easy.

That understanding changed everything—and it also made creating joy more challenging, not easier. Because how do you express something that isn’t surface-level? How do you shape something that’s meant to be lived with, not just looked at?

Expressing Joy Through Clay

And then came the next challenge:
How do I express this kind of joy in my clay work?

Not joy as decoration—but joy as presence, in imagery WITHOUT the words.

Joy, I realized, isn’t always bright.
Sometimes it's vibrant.
Sometimes it’s steady.
Sometimes it’s layered

Creating with that understanding changed my process. I stopped trying to make joy obvious—and started letting it be embodied.

Making With Meaning

This is where my work has landed:
Not creating happiness on demand, but shaping reminders of true joy.

Joy that strengthens.
Joy that remains.
Joy that grows slowly, like something planted and tended.

That’s what I want my work to hold.
That’s what I want it to give.

Love & Blessings, 
Tammy Jo