Hi there, my beautiful beans!

We don’t have a New Yorker of the Week this time around. Submit here if your 2026 resolution is to find more friends and/or love.

As always, you can submit your events for free here and your paid ads here.

Also, it’s my birthday week. Feel free to send me gifts and adoration.

And I also have a gift for YOU. The Othership team reached out, and if you haven’t sauna-ed and cold plunged in their space before, you can check out their Williamsburg location for FREE! Just respond to this email with ‘I wanna cold plunge’ and I’ll get you on the list for a complimentary pass.

Now, onto a GIF and the good stuff:

Join FractalU Winter Semester

FractalU is a collective of peer-led classes taught affordably all over NYC. For winter 2026, we're offering:

• Lamp-making

• Singing

• Computational biology

And more! Check out our course catalogue at tinyurl.com/fractaluwinter

In 2026 I Want - An IFS x Desire New Years Workshop

Start the year by letting pleasure be your compass. In this 90-minute live Zoom workshop with psychologist and IFS therapist Rakhel Shapiro, PhD, you’ll reconnect with what feels good — to enjoy it, and to let it orient you for 2026. Through guided IFS meditation, journaling, and group sharing, we'll clarify our priorities and orient towards pleasure. Sunday, Jan 18 • 12–1:30 PM ET • Sliding scale $35–$75.

Gatherings

Double check details before you go, and contact the organizers with questions! The Joy List does not run these events.

Monday, January 12; Owning Your Shit: Getting out of Blame and Drama

If you frequently notice yourself replaying the same blame stories on loop, this is for you. Instead of feeling frustrated and powerless, join this Lifeshop for a powerful reset: we’ll decode everyday disempowering habits, do practical exercises, and learn practical tools to help you get out of drama loops and blame spirals.

$39, 5:45-7:30 PM, 199 N 8th St Broooklyn. Info here.

Tuesday, January 13: Somartica

What happens when adults remember their most embodied, creative selves? Join us for Somartica (somatics + art), where meditation makes way into movement, movement makes way to art, and before you know it, you're drawing on the walls, rolling on the ground belly laughing, and connecting with others in ways you forgot you remembered. We'll move through embodied meditation, intuitive movement, and pure, unscripted play. No experience necessary - just curiosity and an open heart.

$30 Suggested. 7-8:30 PM. 147 Metropolitan Ave. Info here.

Tuesday, January 13: The Art of Seduction

In this Lifeshop we will learn how to drop agenda, pressure, and trying to 'get what you want,' and instead how to explore desire, something magnetic, playful, and alive in itself.

$39, 5:45-7:30 PM, 199 N 8th St Broooklyn. Info here.

Tuesday, January 13: Tantra Kiss and Massage Circle

This is done in Puja circle style, and is designed for singles to practice platonic massage techniques, and romantic tantric kissing techniques where kissing is a meditation.

$25-$45 6-8pm, Bushwick. Info here.

Thursday, January 15: Word Play Social: New Year, New Words

Join us for our January Word-Off, a friendly night of word games, puzzles, and low-stakes linguistic mischief. Think Bananagrams, Boggle, Scrabble, crosswords...and anything else you’re game for.​Word Play Social is where connecting letters into words becomes the spark for connecting with each other. No pressure, no expertise required...just curiosity, a sense of play, and a willingness to let your guard down faster than you can say “triple word score.”

Free, 6:30-8:30pm, Fabrik DUMBO, 20 Jay St, Suite 218, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Info here.

Saturday, January 17: Open Mic for Short Films

The Open Mic for Short Films is a new, community-oriented event to connect film lovers and local, indie filmmakers by putting on short film screenings followed by facilitated discussions. It’s a chance to see and show work from the local community and then discuss the art you’ve just seen with the artists themselves.After the curtains open, we'll screen around 1.5-2 hours of narrative-based short films spanning genre and subject. Stay after the screenings to delve deeper into the meaning and ideas behind the work.

$15. 2-6pm. 303 Ten Eyck St, Brooklyn, NY 11206. Info here.

That's it for this edition. Sending hugs.

Stay cozy,

Jillian