A Practical Resource For Mental Health and Thriving

This website is a free offering of thoughts, tools, and teachings I’ve gathered along my wellbeing journey. I created this primarily for my three kids, but I hope my close friends and their families can benefit too.

We see mental health struggles everywhere. I call it the darkness. In the U.S. alone about one in four adults experienced a mental illness in the past year while one in six people age twelve and older struggled with a substance use disorder. Young adults and teens in the U.S. in particular are experiencing a mental health crisis at levels we have not seen before.

Among ages 18 to 25, more than one in three has a diagnosable mental health condition in a given year, the highest rate of any adult age group. Roughly 40 percent of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, a sharp increase over the past decade. About one in five teens seriously considered suicide, and suicide is now one of the leading causes of death for people ages 10 to 34. Among young adults, more than 12 percent report having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. I’ve actually lost count of how many friends and acquaintances I’ve lost from suicide and deaths of despair.

I created this site to combat this darkness and shine a light toward growth and healing. As someone who has lived through addiction and anxiety, I know both the weight of the struggle and some practices that helped me. This site is my small piece of light filled with information I wish I’d known earlier in my life. Life will always include suffering, but alongside the pain we can cultivate gratitude and joy through an integrated healing approach that includes physical, mental, and spiritual practices.

I named the site GratiJoy because it describes a pinnacle state of being I have learned to cultivate. I began my journey simply wanting decent mental health and to stop drinking. Over time, and with practice and the right tools, I discovered that I could do more than cope, I could actually thrive. Gratitude and joy is what I found. As William Blake said, “Gratitude is the closest thing we come to heaven.” And joy is a happiness that does not depend on outside circumstances.

Science tells us that joy and gratitude don’t just feel good, they can actually heal. As Dr. Andrew Huberman explains, “Even a few minutes of genuine gratitude can boost serotonin, reduce stress, and strengthen the immune system.” These states literally rewire the brain for health and connection. But it’s hard to feel grateful if we don’t feel feel good physically, which is why I spend time on practice to improve physical wellbeing. This is not biohacking, just simple strategies for feeling good.

We’re all flooded with information, so I’ve gathered only what I believe matters most. You will find distilled insights from books, podcasts, and lived experience offered with simplicity and efficiency in mind. Think of this site as a toolkit that you can open when you need it. Take what helps and leave the rest.