The Protocol Prose Book Club convenes on October 7, 2025 for a members-only discussion of the book The Joy You Make.

About the Book 

Award-winning Washington Post columnist Petrow explains that joy is not only around us, but within us. He examines this and so much more in his much-anticipated book THE JOY YOU MAKE: Find the Silver Linings--Even on Your Darkest Days(The Open Field; 9/10/24). He explores the many expressions of joy and shows readers how to find, cultivate, and share it. Combining his personal experiences with research and expert interviews, Petrow asks (and answers) the question: “What if there was a way to find the joy in everything?” 

The connection between joy and grief are inseparable. Joy is present everywhere; it takes practice, we need to shift our mindset and we need to understand better to experience it. 

Petrow offers practical, prescriptive advice to find the joy around us including: 

• How to Get Lost - give yourself permission to wander, pick and area you have never been to and go without a plan, just walk around, when you get home write about that excursion 
• Reclaiming Your Script - send an actual letter to a friend, yes, via snail mail
• The Importance of Play - without competition 
• Embracing Aging - accept you will experience loss and grief, step outside your comfort zone
• Make the Most of Anticipation - find something every day that you are looking forward to, either small or big 

• Remember, joy is there— we just need to open our eyes and our hearts.

Steven Petrow is an award-winning journalist and author who is best known for his Washington Post and New York Times essays on aging, health, and civility. He’s a contributor to NPR and other news outlets and his TED Talk, “Three Ways To Practice Civility,” has garnered nearly two million views. Petrow is the author of six previous books, including the bestselling Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old. He's North Carolina’s 2024 Piedmont Laureate, and lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Copies of the book are available through Amazon. 

Register to attend the October Protocol Prose Book Club Meeting!