The mission statement of the 2020 Joy Walk is to raise awareness about practical solutions that are known to researchers but aren’t reaching people they would help. The goal is to increase human thriving in the areas of physical and mental health, quality relationships, and success in academics, career, and on the playing field.

Thoreau said, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

The mammoth industrial complexes of our time are hacking at the branches, none of them are striking at the root.

What is the root?

There are causes and effects of everything. The root is where the cure to problems is most effectively applied. This is true of:

• Physical Health
• Mental Health
• Emotional Health
  • Suicide Prevention
  • Burnout Prevention
• Behavioral Health
  • Crime Prevention
• Success in one’s career, academics, and sports
• Relationship Success
  • Parenting

The most amazing thing is that when you trace each of these issues to their root cause, the root cause of all of the problems is the same.

It can be difficult to explain how they are all interrelated because human thriving occurs each aspects is set to a healthy setting. Scientific research has uncovered many false premises that are commonly believed. The research seldom reaches the broader population quickly. The amount of research providing pieces of the answer to one question, “What makes humans thrive?” has been growing at an unprecedented rate, but the information is not reaching those it would benefit.

Those false premises interfere with success in every aspect of life, including developing and maintaining healthy relationships.

Our mental and physical health, relationships, and success all depend on these settings and, in turn, determine:   

• The thoughts we think
• The words we speak
• The actions we choose to take

Instead of attempting to explain all of these connections at the same time, compelling research connecting each of the above topics to the root are provided at the science tab on this site.

This information points to fundamental changes we should make in the way we interact with our minds, bodies, families, and communities. For each topic, the following will be detailed:

• Research linking it to the root cause
• The way the potential world that is within our reach would look and feel when more people thrive and fewer people struggle.

The 2020 Joy Walk will begin at the beginning of Route 66, at the Santa Monica Pier. The walk will end in Charleston, South Carolina.