In this episode of Joy Moments, Sara shares her exhilarating experience of finally identifying a celebrity she spotted in an airport two years ago. We discuss the powerful dopamine rush that comes from solving a long-standing mystery and the unique joy of closure. Lacey and Sara also explore how delight in others creates ripples of joy in our own lives.

We dive into:

• Sara's two-year quest to identify a mystery celebrity from a chance airport encounter
• The euphoria of finally solving a persistent riddle while watching 30 Rock
• How showing delight in others amplifies joy in relationships
• The concept of "meta joy" - finding joy in others' joy

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Submit your own joy moment
• 7 Day Easy Challenge - Starting September 2nd
• Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation - Supporting families with children in the NICU

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share your joy moments with us!

Foreign where small moments shared create ripples of joy.

I am Lacy, your co host who's hanging on by a thread today because of lack of sleep.

But it's okay because we're here celebrating joy.

Here we go, Sarah.

Hi, Sarah.

Hi Lacy.

Thank you for showing up.

And I think it's great that you admit you're hanging on by a thread because I think that normalizes that some days are like that and you just keep doing your best.

I have a couple of draw moments myself.

Do you have anything to share today?

I do.

It's so big, I almost want to.

Well, it's big to me.

I almost want to hold it and listen to yours first.

Delayed gratification is actually part of my joy.

So Lacey, I want you to go first.

I did get two moments, so I'm going to share.

The first One is from AJ on TikTok.

It's says my 2 year old all of a sudden started pronouncing words like trash, trash.

And I want to spell it just to make sure that I got it right.

T R Y a a a S H right?

Trash.

Either way, the joy this brought me because then I also was thinking about in our household, Iris still has a lot of that like little kid sounds.

I mean she's only four so of course it simultaneously tickles me and annoys Isaac.

And so we constantly have this push and pull.

And this morning she was talking to our alx ea and she says, lexa.

She responded okay.

And Isaac giggled next to me and he's like, I love hearing her say that.

And I was just like, oh, what a lovely moment.

Then the next one from Niffy says my special needs 3 year old decided he ready for potty training which let's just talk about how much is there.

Naturally I'm, I'm excited for them.

And then she responded to me being excited for her.

She said, it's been a ride for the past few days.

I can't believe how many times this child has taken a bath.

As a parent, I totally understand.

So then our two joy moment sharers start talking to each other in the comments and it's amazing.

Nif is our special mom needs mom.

AJ is our two year old mom mom.

But then Niffy comes back and says early potty training is rough.

I'm so excited for you.

But when they finally get it, it's so amazing.

And there's just something about moms coming together, validating each other and just being like way to go for where you are.

No matter where it's At.

And no matter where it ends up being, it just made me so happy.

Well, and I love the joy ripple.

You asked for people's joys, and then they ended up joy, like giving joy to one another.

And that just such the definition of the joy, or not definition, but example of the joy ripple.

And now we're getting to hear it.

And I'm remembering, yes, it feels so good to be validated as a parent through these really tough.

It's two steps forward, one step back with potty training.

And so to get that cheering on is so beautiful.

So that was a.

That was a meta joy was joy moment.

Enjoy moment.

Enjoy joy moment.

Right, Sarah, we, the listeners, are on the edge of our seats about your big joy.

You bet your bottom dollar you are.

First I'm gonna go met a joy ripple, which was I mentioned.

My friend had the joy of reflecting about his time.

He got to drink coffee on the beach when he had a bad day, and then he reached out to me when he heard it.

He was riding on the bus and listening to the podcast, catching up.

And then he was like, I just heard my own joy moment.

And I was like, oh, my gosh, your joy moment came back to you.

This is so full circle.

I love that.

So that's my mini one.

Here's my big one.

And I posted this joy in the village.

So Lacy already knows this.

I need to Google, but I haven't Googled.

Okay, so the premise is, I was in an airport two years ago, and I was walking shoulder to shoulder.

We were walking in opposite directions.

I passed this gentleman.

We make eye contact, and I instantly know this man is somebody I've seen on the television screen.

And then there's no more data, there's no more information.

We're walking in two different directions.

There's no way I'm going to turn around and be like, where do I know you from?

So for two years, I have wondered who this person was.

And let me tell you, my Google searches were so pitiful because I couldn't think of enough descriptors to even begin to figure out who this person was.

And here's where the real dopamine buildup for me came.

I never knew if I would find out.

Two years.

Once a week, this guy popped into my head.

I can see him so clearly.

And I just thought, I may live the rest of my life never knowing who that guy was.

But I know I saw him.

So we're sitting on the couch, we're watching 30 Rock, which in and of itself is a joy My son is watching it for the first time.

I'm watching it for the umpteenth time, remembering how much I love this show.

And I cannot tell you how excited I got when they cut to this scene.

So Jack Donaghy goes into his office and his whole family is there.

Within a split second, I pause the show and I start screaming, that's him.

That's him.

Oh, my God, that's him.

And my husband is like, what is happening?

And I said, that's the guy I saw in the airport two years ago.

Oh, my gosh.

And then I. I can't explain the euphoria.

I mean, imagine hearing a riddle that you have been gnawing on for two years, years, never knowing if you're going to get the answer.

So I looked up this guy's name.

His name is Boris McGiver.

And I don't know if I'm spelling that.

I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly.

So Boris McGiver.

I saw this guy's face, and I was like, that's the guy I saw in the airport.

It's not where I remember him, though, from.

I have to go through his IMDb.

I remember him from a different movie where he's wearing a black suit.

But anyways, Boris McGiver, the.

Look at you.

I. I gotta tell you, if you can hear a riddle and know that you won't hear the answer until a indeterminate deadline, the dopamine rush is worth it.

And my husband was just in awe at how happy I was.

Okay, so that's my joy was figuring out who the famous person was I saw in the airport.

Oh, and then the reason he was in the airport is because he grew up about an hour away from where I am.

So he must have been visiting family or something, because that's the other thing.

I was like, why is this dude in upstate New York?

Mystery solved, closed case.

Now I secretly want to see somebody else in the airport who I can't identify so I can start this all over again.

Is there an element of, like, now that you've had the joy, like, that adventure is over.

There is a little bit of a letdown.

I mean, as good as it felt.

And now I want a new mystery.

I got to be honest, I looked at him, and I would not have recognized him.

He's been in a lot of stuff, though, so.

Oh, my brain clocked him immediately.

I remember him being in some kind of bar after a funeral.

Again, wearing a black suit with his tie loosened Looking very somber.

Oh, wait.

This is how I'm going to continue it.

It's not done.

Okay.

It's not done.

Okay.

My next thing is to somehow get into contact with Boris McGiver and let him know about this two year riddle.

Okay.

There we go.

Okay.

Okay.

We'll make it a TikTok.

That's our one that will go viral.

Who knows?

I love, I know.

I love when I can get you to laugh like that.

I was reading in a parenting book about how one of the best things that you can do is show your delight in your children.

And like, so the moments that they're delighted let that they delight you, let them know.

And this is one of those moments where I'm like, I'm just delighted by Sarah.

Oh, my gosh.

My heart is so happy.

Feel you.

I hear you as usual.

I'm delighted by you.

I'm delighted by you being delighted by me.

This is a meta, meta, meta inception of joy moments here.

Do you remember the scene on the Good Place where they go to heaven and they're like kind of in this administration post office building and Nicole Byer is.

And they're like, thank you.

No, thank you for thanking me.

Thank you for thanking me for thanking you.

Okay, do you want to do two quick plugs?

Real quick.

Is a Joy Ripple shout out that we got on our website.

Let Louise Tisdall Foundation, Our friend Michelle.

Has a great foundation named after her daughter Colette.

And what's great is, I mean, this is the embodiment of what we're talking about here is she took a really uncomfortable situation in her life and she created a foundation in her daughter's name who her daughter passed away very early in life.

And then she gathers funds and then she used those funds to help families who have children born prematurely in the nicu.

And so she is now taking her time and energy to help those families going through similar situations.

Michelle.

Big shout out to Michelle for all she does donated to our Joy Ripple.

And thank you, Michelle.

Thank you.

Yeah, so you can always do a Joy Ripple to donate to us, but you can also donate to the Colette.

Louise Tizzall.

We've got the link in our show notes and it's a big help to families who are in a moment of crisis.

And I know when it comes to support, that's one of those times where any little support can help.

Absolutely.

Last but not least, we are doing our seven day easy challenge starting September 2nd.

So if you go to joyfulsupportmovement.com 7dayeasy.

You can sign up and it's a program where we literally walk you through how to make life a little bit easier and we want to make life easier and so we'll be doing it with you.

Last time it was really helpful for me.

We hope that you join us especially as the back to school and seasons transition.

It seems like a great time to do it.

And if you have your own joy moment you want to share, please submit.

We want to read your joy moment so it can come back to you and do a full joy Ripple inception.

Thank you for sharing your joy.

Thank you.

Lacey.