Jonathan Murphy: Everyone deserves joy

What does joy mean to you?

I believe everyone deserves joy. Like food, water, and shelter, experiencing joy and delight are vital to a healthy and fulfilling life.

Through my work at WIT, I have the privilege of watching students’ joy firsthand. One example sticks out: I was able to sit in on Krystal Ramseur’s class at Calvary Women’s Services, a local organization that works to empower women and help them out of homelessness. It was amazing to see everyone’s spirits lift in the first 10 minutes of class. All of us were laughing together because of improv’s ability to inspire joy. Thanks to the support of friends like you, WIT has been able to bring the joy of improv to their clients for over two years.

Elaine Johnson, education coordinator, brought this idea home when she told me, “I truly believe that we resign anyone at the poverty line to a life devoid of delight. Saying that once you fix all your problems, then you can be delighted. But delight is what gets the women to do the hard work.”

That’s why WIT spreads the message, each and every day, that joy is for everyone. We strive to bring this sense of delight to people across DC, including public school students, veterans and residents in every Ward of the District through our free Improv for All workshops.

If you believe that we all deserve more joy in the year ahead, will you make a gift today? 

Right now, thanks to the support of a few good friends, every dollar you give through December 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000. Fulfilling the match will create an urgently needed $20,000 to help WIT continue work at Calvary—a place where joy is needed more than ever.

Please join in the match while there’s still time.

Jonathan Murphy
WIT Education Director

PS – Check out this video from our conversation.