# The Delightful Science of Microjoys

There's a cognitive phenomenon called "negativity bias" where our brains cling to bad experiences like velcro while good ones slide off like teflon. From an evolutionary standpoint, this made sense—remembering where the tiger hid was more important than recalling a pleasant sunset. But in modern life, where actual tigers are scarce and pleasant sunsets abundant, this mental quirk does us no favors.

Here's the fascinating part: neuroscientists have discovered that we can literally rewire this tendency through what they call "experience-dependent neuroplasticity." Translation? Your brain is basically Play-Doh, even in adulthood.

The secret weapon? Microjoys.

These aren't the big, obvious happiness hits—landing your dream job, falling in love, winning the lottery. Microjoys are the tiny, easily overlooked moments that happen dozens of times daily: the satisfying click of a pen, the smell of coffee brewing, the way your dog's entire body wags with their tail, that perfect song coming on shuffle.

The trick is to pause for just five seconds when they occur. That's it. Five seconds of conscious attention. Say to yourself, "This is nice." Let it register. What you're actually doing is giving your brain permission to encode that moment as important. You're teaching it that good things matter.

Rick Hanson, a neuropsychologist, calls this "taking in the good," and the research is compelling. People who practice this simple technique for a few weeks report measurably higher levels of optimism and life satisfaction. They're not experiencing more good things—they're just finally *noticing* them.

The intellectual beauty here is that optimism isn't about delusional thinking or toxic positivity. It's about correcting a perceptual error. Your brain is a slightly unreliable narrator, and you're simply fact-checking its negativity-skewed story.

Start today: Count to five during small pleasures. The warmth of sunshine through a window. The first bite of lunch when you're actually hungry. The relief of taking off uncomfortable shoes. Your cat existing near you with vague approval.

These moments have always been there, little packets of goodness scattered through your day like Easter eggs in a video game. You've just been speed-running past them.

Your brain will resist at first. It'll insist this is silly, that you have real problems to worry about. But that's just the tiger-watcher talking, stuck in survival mode. You're allowed to notice when things are, however briefly, exactly right.

Five seconds. That's all optimism takes.

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI