How to Find Joy Even When Life Is Hard | Diane ShifferHow to Find Joy Even When Life Is Hard | Diane Shiffer
The One You Feed
Diane Shiffer talks with Eric Zimmer about finding small, steady moments of joy amid anxiety, depression, and everyday hardship. She shares her sit-and-stare practice, the idea of a realistic “seven out of ten” life, and the value of tiny reminders that prove joy can coexist with pain.
54:10•22 Sept 2026
Finding Joy in a Strong Seven: Diane Shiffer on Small Moments that Matter
Episode Overview
- Feeding contentment instead of anxiety starts with noticing where your attention goes, echoing the two-wolves parable.
- Small, ordinary moments—like raindrops on a windscreen or a warm cup of coffee—can gently lift your mood and are worth treating as real joy.
- Keeping tangible reminders of good times, such as stained napkins or old buttons, can anchor you during periods of anxiety or depression.
- Accepting life as a realistic “seven out of ten” reduces pressure for constant peak experiences and can prevent a solid seven from dropping to a five.
- Being kind to yourself is more effective for long-term change than harsh self-discipline, especially when building healthier habits and emotional resilience.
“Heartbreak doesn’t make beauty any less beautiful, and pain doesn’t make joy any less joyful.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation with author and Instagram grandmother Diane Shiffer offers a gentle reminder that joy and hardship can sit side by side without cancelling each other out. Diane talks with host Eric Zimmer about living with lifelong anxiety and depression while still finding “the smallest of joys”.
She relates the show’s two-wolves parable to her own life, saying her inner battle is between anxiety and contentment, and that what she pays attention to is what grows.
As she puts it, “Heartbreak doesn’t make beauty any less beautiful, and pain doesn’t make joy any less joyful.” You’ll hear how her unexpected social media fame began with a shaky time-lapse hair video filmed in her son’s truck, and how the online love she received didn’t change her, but “affirmed” the oddball she’d always been.
That same down-to-earth warmth shapes her book, *The Smallest of Joys*, where she champions a realistic “seven out of ten” life—because, as she and Eric joke, “seven tenths of a pie is a lot of pie.” Diane shares her simple “sit and stare” practice: a few quiet minutes with a cup of coffee, focusing on something tiny and beautiful—a flower, raindrops on a windscreen, stitches on a sleeve.
For her, these moments are a kind of meditation that can carry her through stressful days. She also describes keeping tangible reminders of good times—like a napkin stained with blueberries from a special breakfast—to prove to herself that joy was real, even when her mind gets dark. Throughout, the message stays clear and kind: you don’t have to fix everything to feel better; sometimes, you just change what you notice.
If you’re rebuilding life after alcohol, grief, or mental health struggles, this gentle mix of humour, honesty, and small, doable practices might be exactly the kind of “strong seven” you need today. What tiny moment of joy could you pocket for later?
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