National JoyGerm Day is celebrated nationwide every January 8 to reawaken the need to fill ourselves to the brim with kindness and love. The day encourages us to share positivity and happiness and make special efforts to spread joy where we can. At this time of year, cold and flu germs spread like crazy, and National JoyGerm Day is the perfect opportunity to spread kindness, happiness, and love too.
History of National JoyGerm Day
We celebrate National JoyGerm Day nationwide every January 8. The day encourages us to share positivity and happiness and make special efforts to spread joy where we can. During this day, we can win people over through smiles, hugs, grins, and more. It is a day to spread cheer through “germs of joy” and a time for positivity, optimism, smiles, and kindness to everyone we come into contact with.
Those who celebrate the day are usually members of Joygerms Limited, the company founder Joan White established to promote it. They go to nursing homes and hospitals to spread cheer and hold parades to celebrate the day. Although it is not a day to ignore life’s problems, it helps us rise above them.
Joan E. White founded National JoyGerm Day in 1981. A resident of Syracuse, New York, she got the idea for the day after she came across a newspaper story about a California couple who offered to worry for others in exchange for a fee. White thought this approach to facing the world’s problems was flawed and established an organization to counteract worriers. She then founded Joygerms Limited and designated January 8 as National JoyGerm Day, which also happened to be her late mother’s birthday. Although Joygerms Day was unofficially first held on January 8, 1981, when the idea for it and Joygerms Limited came about, it didn’t become a national day until 1985.
National JoyGerm Day timeline
A rather joyful and exuberant woman named Joan White starts National JoyGerm Day.
Neurophysiologists at the American Medical Association first identify the neurological causes of laughter and link it with the activation of the part of the brain that produces endorphins.
National JoyGerm Day is unofficially celebrated for the first time on January 8, 1981.
Joan White writes the following about the motivation for joygerms, “Blue skies; dancing daffodils; whippoorwills; whiffs of fresh bread baking in the oven; a welcome hug; offering of peace and prayer… all the natural highs.”
National JoyGerm Day FAQs
Is National JoyGerm Day a real holiday?
National JoyGerm Day is observed as a holiday without the day off in the U.S.
How do I celebrate National JoyGerm Day?
Laugh more, lend a helping hand, and tell stupid jokes to celebrate National JoyGerm Day!
How can I join Joygerm Limited?
Register to become an official member of Joygerm Limited and take part in spreading happiness through them. Send an email to joygerms@gmail.com today.
National JoyGerm Day Activities
Laugh!
It’s one of the easiest ways to spread happiness and boost other people’s moods. Laughter is infectious, and it mostly feels good when someone smiles at you, so smile and laugh this National JoyGerm Day to celebrate!
Tell silly jokes
You’ll probably get way more people to laugh than you would with another strategy. At the very least, people won’t feel worse than when you met them if they are already grumpy.
Volunteer to help people
Lending a helping hand voluntarily to help people with something they stress about is a genuine way to get them to be happy.
5 Things You Should Know About National JoyGerm Day
Celebrated on White’s mother’s birthday
Joan White chose January 8 to celebrate National JoyGerm Day because it falls on her mother’s birthday.
Thousands of members across the world
Joygerms Limited has members in all 50 states in the U.S and more than 180,000 card-carrying members worldwide.
Members get a free membership card
Joygerms Limited gives free membership cards to people who want to join the group in spreading happiness.
Founded by a retired public relations specialist
White was a retired advertising and public relations specialist when she got the idea to start Joygerms in 1981.
You can send Joan an email
To become an official member of Joygerms Limited and take part in spreading happiness through them.
Why We Love National JoyGerm Day
It is fun!
Spreading happiness through laughter and telling bad jokes is fun! Forget your worries about the past and future and focus on enjoying the present fully.
It spreads joy
Joy is contagious, and National JoyGerm Day is specially designed to spread enough of it. The day helps us light the fire of happiness in the mind and body of friends and family through our radiating happiness.
It helps fight depression
Joy kills depression, and National JoyGerm Day helps people get over their worries that might lead to the pit of depression.
National JoyGerm Day dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | January 8 | Wednesday |
| 2026 | January 8 | Thursday |
| 2027 | January 8 | Friday |
| 2028 | January 8 | Saturday |
| 2029 | January 8 | Monday |
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