【推荐3】Joy is an emotion experienced by many but understood by few. It often refers to a broad sense of being satisfied with life that appears after experiencing a sense of awe or wonder. It also relates to accomplishing something we’ve wanted for a long time. It’s usually mistaken for happiness, but joy is experienced naturally, while happiness is often pursued.

Joy triggers (引发) a series of physical and psychological changes that can improve our health. When joyous, our breathing becomes faster, our heartbeat increases, and our chest and entire body feel warmer. These changes make our body prepared for movement and also make us feel more mentally prepared to take on life’s challenges. These changes in body and mind are also associated with improved mood.

Interestingly, joy is both a state and a trait (特质). This means that while some of us only experience it as a result of a joyful situation, others have a capacity for it, that is to say, they’re able to experience joy regardless of whether they’ve encountered something joyful. Some research suggests that this capacity is genetic, with estimates that about 30% of people have this “gift for joy”. This means they’re hardly influenced by their external environment and may find it easier to experience joy.

But just because some people may find it easier to experience joy, that doesn’t mean we can do nothing to help boost our experience of it. Sharing and preparing food with others can help us experience more joy, as it can enhance what’s known as psychological flourishing — the highest level of wellbeing. Researchers also find that doing exercise in company with other people or accomplishing an exercise-related goal we never thought we were capable of can lead to joy. Another simple way to boost feelings of joy is by writing down how you feel. In one experiment, participants who spent 20 minutes a day writing about positive experiences for three months reported better moods compared with participants who wrote about different topics.

However, while joy is wonderful to experience, it isn’t the only emotion we’ll feel in our life. It’s important to embrace all the emotions we experience — be that sadness, anger, happiness or joy.

【推荐1】Are you a big sports fan? If so, chances are that you’ve read articles by a sports reporter. The writer may have broken down a game or described one of your favorite athletes.

Sean Gregory is a senior sports reporter for TIME magazine. He thinks that a sports reporter not only goes to games but writes interesting articles. Like all good reporters, Gregory takes specific steps to write an attractive story.

First, he decides which people he wants to interview. Gregory says that getting various perspectives on a sport,   an event, or a player adds interesting layers (层面) to an article. That’s why he doesn’t talk to just athletes but also to coaches and the audience.

Next, Gregory puts together a list of questions. He says the questions are intended to “bring about exciting answers and a good conversation.”

Finally, sports reporters also need to understand data collected by sports analysts (分析家), who use the data to make a guess. Emily Kaplan, a sports reporter for ESPN, says that writing about sports includes analyzing which players are most effective and valuable. “The way that we quantify (量化) a lot of those things is through the data and math,” she says.

Many sports were canceled in the spring because of the pandemic (疫情). Some restarted over the summer and fall. As a safety measure, reporters are not permitted to go to games, nor are they allowed to go only in small numbers. Gregory hasn’t been to a game in months. He speaks to players online, but he misses being able to chat with fans at events. “Sometimes, they say funny things that make stories lively,” Gregory says.

For now, many sports reporters are busy writing articles that take place off the field, court, or skating area. For example, Kaplan wrote about how the pandemic affected the finances of the owners of sports clubs. Gregory reported on how pandemic shutdowns are affecting athletes’ mental health. “What this pandemic has taught all of us is that we just need to find ways to adapt,” Kaplan says. “And we’ll adapt again when things are normal.”

【推荐2】“It’s incredible. I never thought my dream would come true so soon,” Chinese ballet dancer Chun Wai Chan recalled the scene when he got the news in May that he was promoted to the principal dancer with New York City Ballet (NYCB), the company’s first Chinese and fourth Asian principal dancer in 74 years.

Born in Huizhou City, South China’s Guangdong Province in 1992, Chan has become attached to dance since childhood. However, his parents preferred him to be a doctor or a lawyer in the future. The uncompromising boy then wrote a seven-page letter to his parents describing his determination to study dance.

Thanks to the sincere letter, Chan finally gained the support of his family, and at the age of 12, he was admitted to Guangzhou Arts School, marking the start of his dream-seeking journey. Chan’s first turning point in life came at the age of 18, when he was a finalist in the 2010 Prix de Lausanne, which earned him a full scholarship to study with Houston Ballet’s second company, Houston Ballet II. Two years later, Chan joined Houston Ballet and became a principal in 2017. There, he gained a reputation as a confident and sensitive performer. In 2020, he appeared as a contestant on the Chinese television show Dance Smash on Hunan Satellite TV, which gained him a large following.

Chan returned to New York last year, and was finally promoted to the principal dancer with the NYCB in May this year. He attributes his success to his passion, hard work, concentration, perseverance and the pursuit of excellence.

In China, Chan’s success has become a source of pride. News of his promotion to principal dancer was widely circulated, and he has been featured repeatedly in the Chinese media, under headlines like “The Ballet Knight” and “After Dance Smash, he conquered New York.”

After performances, audience members sometimes tell Chan that they have never seen Asian dancers in leading roles. He has been moved to hear young dancers of color say his example has given them hope for their own careers. “I used to think I danced just for myself,” he said. “Now I’m dancing for my family, for the audience, for the whole dance community.”