Arden Joy

Before there was Etsy, there were gas sta­tions that sold key­chains with names on them. I hat­ed that I had a name that was nev­er, ever, on a key­chain. But, as I got old­er, I start­ed to come around on my name. Arden Joy means ardent­ly, fer­vent­ly, full of joy. It became an invi­ta­tion to seek joy, to live a life of joy, and to bring joy to others.

Being joy­ful — at least my ver­sion — is not about putting on rose-col­ored glass­es. It’s about find­ing ways to let the good, the heal­ing, and the hope­ful take root with­in the strug­gle, the mess, and the pain.

My pas­sions have allowed me to cre­ate a full life as a queer, Jew­ish, wife, moth­er, and cre­ator. I am a Rei­ki Mas­ter, a yoga teacher (RYT-200), a trav­el­er who is afraid of fly­ing (but does it any­way), and a cham­pi­on for the oxford comma.

Whether it’s bring­ing diver­si­ty and cre­ativ­i­ty to fic­tion nov­els, invit­ing mind­ful­ness into the pre­cious time of new par­ent­hood, or mak­ing trav­el more acces­si­ble, I seek to bring all my skills into mak­ing the world a lit­tle more expan­sive, a lit­tle more beau­ti­ful, and a lit­tle more, well, joyful!

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