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- The Joy List: May 26
The Joy List: May 26
Hi everyone,
We don’t have a New Yorker of the Week today. If you know someone (including yourself!) who should be featured, forward them this form.
Now, onto the GIF and the fun things:
FractalU Summer Semester starts soon!
FractalU is back & open for enrollment for our 5th semester, Summer 2025.We’re running DIY educational experiments in classrooms like third spaces, dance studios, and cozy living rooms all around New York City. Our goal? To challenge ourselves, gain new & actionable skills, and follow our curiosity, because we believe education should be a lifelong pursuit. But also because learning is fun, and cool peers make excellent friends!
We’re thrilled to be offering courses this summer such as:- Freestyle Cooking 101- Improvisational Writing Lab- Frontier Language Models- Bardic Arts- Martial Architecture, and way more. Classes start as early as May 31st — apply now!
What brilliant, unrealized shower thoughts are haunting your Notes app? Join our Creativity Potluck and take the first step from half-baked idea to plan-in-motion!
Join Labyrxnth founder Christina Ducruet on Monday 6/2 at 3pm ET for a FREE 90-minute gathering to explore what’s waiting beneath your creative surface. Bring a notebook and a not-yet idea—a half-baked idea or dormant dream—and leave with insight, momentum, and a path forward. We’ll end with information about how to go deeper in shared self-exploration through Lab X: Creativity x Fear (6/24–7/29).
Gatherings
Double check details before you go, and contact the organizers with questions! The Joy List does not run these events.
Monday, May 26: Relating Authentically: An Evening of Meaningful Connections
DITCH SMALL TALK. DISCOVER REAL CONNECTIONS.✨ First 3 people to sign up get 50% off with code DEEPVIBES ($10 entry).Join us for an evening where curiosity and openness meet—come as you are and connect beyond the surface.We’ll start with light connection games, ease into deeper group conversations, and end with free-flowing chats and insights.
$20. 7-9:30pm. 114 Troutman St, 11206. Info here.
Tuesday, May 27: After School Club
After School is the sexier, modern version of a book club for the busy New Yorker. Take the questionnaire, get matched with five like-minded strangers, and meet up at a local bar to discuss a short story or article you all read ahead of time. Meet new people and learn new things.
$18, 7-8:30 PM. Midtown West, East Village, Downtown Brooklyn. Info here.
Tuesday, May 27: Laughter Lab
Laughter Lab is a dynamic blend of laughter yoga, improvisation, supportive community, and intuitive exploration. Through guided exercises, playful interaction, and intentional laughter, participants experience proven benefits such as reduced stress, enhanced creativity, improved mood, and greater resilience. This interactive workshop offers practical tools to reconnect with joy, cultivate emotional well-being, and invite a renewed sense of balance and vitality into everyday life.
$25 6:30 - 8:30pm 200 columbia street. Info here.
Wednesday, May 28: Underbelly: The Art of Slowing Down
Underbelly is a a non-verbal, somatic movement & meditation practice immersed in music for a slower body. Here, we exist in truer presence and intimacy with one another giving rise to our somatic and vital intelligence without looking or being "right." Instead of needing to have it all figured out, we embrace the unknowns and rest back into the richness of what is already here, allowing it to guide us. Voyage beneath the surface of our fast culture, and sink into a slow sanctuary for unearthing what is alive, tender, and honest for you in every moment. *Live grand piano piano by Charlie Levine!
$25. 7-9:30PM. 68 Jay St. #605A. Info here.
Thursday, May 29: Spiritual Business Mixer
Come and connect with fellow entrepreneurs, artists, healers & small business owners.part networking - part support group - part social connectWe will open with a short meditation, followed by introductions and open conversation, and then free time to mix and mingle.snacks & tea will be served
$25. 6:30 - 8:30 200 Columbia st. Info here.
Thursday, May 29: StoryTell: Resilience
Join StoryTell for an evening of intellectual and emotional connection. Part conversation, part storytelling, we'll explore our perspectives, curiosities, and personal stories on the theme of "Resilience". You'll leave with a new friend, a new perspective, and deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you.
$25, 6:30-9PM, Arlo NoMad. Info here.
Thursday, May 29: Off-Script: An Experiment in Dating
They say dating in NYC is a mess—and all kinds of apps and events are popping up to fix it. We are not claiming to have that kind of power.
But we do have a community that naturally filters out a$$holes and pretentious people, and that feels like a good place to start.
We have a feeling that a key antidote to crappy dating is curiosity, so we're going to lead with that. Our plan is to experiment, play, and see what actually feels good, honest, and worthwhile.
$15 (only male tickets left.) 8 to 10 PM. Little Honey. Info here.
Friday, May 30: Deep Fun
Deep Fun is a highly-physical facilitated communal play (no, not sex) session, drawing loosely on my years of experience as an actor, clown, performer, and educator. For two hours, we actively "research" the feeling of physical pleasure, wild abandon, playfulness, and collective effervescence as its own end through a series of four categories of play/game: Collective Play, Collective Competition, Duo Play, and Individual Play (we may not get to all of these categories, and that’s okay!).
"Playing" comes in the form of collective exercises, “frivolous" activities, cooperative games, on-your-feet group problem solving, singing simple songs with great gusto (if that's the vibe), and much running (and perhaps rolling) around. It's a fast-paced, high energy, game-packed play session intended to invite vulnerability and connection through a heightened state of presence.
$25, 6:30-8:30 pm, 22 E 30th St. Info here.
Saturday, May 31: Climate Imaginarium 2025 Opening Party on Governors Island
We're back for our second season on Governors Island at the Climate Imaginarium! The Climate Imaginarium is a center for climate, community, and culture, operated by a coalition of universities, cultural institutions, media organizations, and arts nonprofits. Last summer, we welcomed nearly 5,000 visitors through 100+ events, exhibitions, performances, and film screenings that responded to the climate crisis with solutions and visions for hope and justice. We're returning with big plans for 2025!
Free + 12 PM + 406A Comfort Rd, New York, NY 10004, USA. Info here.
Saturday, May 31: Junk Journaling with Mercy&Odin
Wind down with paper scraps and glue sticks at this cozy East Village hang for self-expression and connection. No experience needed—just show up, grab a notebook, and make something weird and beautiful. All materials (and snacks) provided. Bring collage fodder to share if you’re feeling generous. Return guests get a discount. Hosted by Mercy of Mercy & Odin.
$20 + $3.18 fee - 367 East 10th St. Info here.
Need a spa day?
Use this link to get 30% off your first visit to Bathhouse (the Flatiron or Williamsburg location) and use the code JILLIANRICHARDSON to get 11% off any purchase at Othership! I especially recommend the 2-week intro pass.
Pro tips for both: check them out during the weekday if you want a more quiet, chill vibe. And go in the evenings— especially on the weekend— for a more social energy.