Reflections from the JoyCorps Studio Team

Flourishing. 

It’s a word we often use when talking about outcomes- thriving families, resilient communities, restored systems. It’s a word we come back to as a design studio, where we think of flourishing as something whole-mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical growth all woven together. But recently, this word began to stretch and shift in ways we didn’t expect.

Two of our current projects are worlds apart- geographically, culturally, and in the issues they address. One involves families in the US, whose children are at risk of entering, or are already part of, the foster care system. The other is based in India, amongst survivors of bonded labour-many of whom are from historically marginalized communities.

At first glance, these contexts have little in common. But the deeper we listened, the more we began to notice a shared thread.

In the US context, when we asked families how they would define flourishing, we heard

“Flourishing is the capacity to help others”

“Giving to others”

In the Bihar context, we spoke with a woman who walks alongside these survivors. What struck us was this: it wasn’t the promise of income or security that motivated them to keep going- it was the desire to be there for someone else still stuck in what they’d come through. 

The words varied, but the heart behind them was the same- across oceans, languages, and systems.

Flourishing, it turns out, wasn’t described as a personal arrival point, but it unfolds in spurts. In glimpses. In the quiet decision to get up again, not just for yourself- but so that someone else might see that it’s possible.

It caught us off guard, in the best kind of way.

Because we walked into these spaces-despite all our intentions to listen well- with quiet assumptions. We thought we had a sense of what flourishing might look like in each context. We expected they’d talk about things like having a steady income, a safe home, or new opportunities. But these women offered us a different definition. A deeper one.

It’s a definition that continues to challenge and shape our work.

As a studio that co-designs with communities, we often talk about dignity, agency, and equity. This was a humbling reminder that no matter how much we plan or design, real wisdom comes from listening to people who’ve been through the hardest times, and still choose to give. 

So now, when we talk about flourishing, we hold a new image in mind:

Not a finish line.

Not a polished success story.

But something magical that happens in moments- small, steady, and sometimes unexpected.