The big idea is this: Our cultural systems are dynamic and shaped by everyday habits and relationships. If we want better systems, we need better daily practices. Grassroots change begins with shifting how we live, relate, and care in our everyday lives.

Founded by two Environment & Society researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, Delight~Disrupt draws on decades of interdisciplinary research across social sciences, humanities, and systems thinking. This research consistently shows that lasting large-scale change does not happen in isolation. It emerges through shared practices that reshape values and norms, rebuild relationships, and gradually transform culture.

By weaving together insights on ritual formation, joy-centred wellbeing, and reconnection with community and nature, Delight~Disrupt creates the conditions for challenging our current dominant worldviews that undermine mental health, foster isolation, and degrade the places we love. By prompting through wellbeing, rather than guilt, fear, or obligation, Delight~Disrupt sidesteps the overwhelm so many of us feel in the face of today’s crises. As people feel more grounded and connected, their relations with and care for others and the living world naturally shift.

In doing so, Delight~Disrupt opens space for all of us to imagine and practise alternative ways of being grounded in reciprocity, collaboration, and collective care, pointing toward a kinder, safer, and thriving future for all beings.

Here is a brief research-backed, evidence-supported explanation of how and why this approach works.

Why joyful habits and rituals matter

Our cultures revolve around rituals, whether conscious or not. Ritualised behaviour is a powerful driver of lasting behavioural change.

Habits are built not through motivation alone, but through carefully designed everyday structures that provide repetition, predictable cues, emotional reward, and meaning (Clear, 2018; Wood & Neal, 2007). Reframing habits into rituals amplifies their impact, transforming everyday actions into purposeful practices that increase commitment, emotional engagement, and perceived value, even when the actions themselves are simple (Hobson et al., 2018).

Rituals also play a key role in shaping shared norms and identities, strengthening collective social cohesion and continuity over time (Durkheim, 1912/1995; Norton, 2023). When actions are meaningful, repeated, and shared, they spark joy, strengthen relationships, and help people find purpose (Norton, 2023).

Most people already have rituals, from morning routines to shared celebrations. Delight~Disrupt makes having positive rituals in our lives easier to sustain and less dependent on willpower, which is limited and unreliable over time (Clear, 2018; Wood and Neal, 2007). Weekly rhythms build continuity and trust, allowing meaning to accumulate (Clear, 2018; Norton, 2023; Wood and Neal, 2007). Ritual does not demand perfection or intensity. It asks only for return, again and again.

Over time, small, habitual, delightfully disruptive playful moments compound into new rituals, new ways of relating, and new expectations of what everyday life can look like, quietly shaping a kinder, more restorative culture (Clear, 2018; Durkheim, 1912/1995; Norton, 2023).

Why joy is not just frivolous, it’s strategic

Joy is often seen as a bonus or a reward, but research reveals a deeper truth. Studies on happiness and mental health demonstrate that small moments of delight, gratitude, and positive attention enrich daily life and help people stay emotionally resilient over time (Bohlmeijer et al., 2021; Lyubomirsky, King & Diener, 2005; WHO, 2022). Research shows that prioritising wellbeing by reframing everyday tasks as opportunities instead of obligations, cherishing small pleasures, and consciously savouring moments boosts wellbeing and long-term satisfaction (Bohlmeijer et al., 2021; Weinstein et al., 2015).

These positive emotions do more than just help us feel good. They enhance cognitive function, strengthen social bonds, and foster openness to change (Fredrickson, 2001). When people feel emotionally resourced, they become more creative, more resilient, and better equipped to engage with complex challenges over the long-haul (Fredrickson, 2001; WHO, 2022).

Conversely, cultures dominated by constant urgency, self-sacrifice, and overwhelm tend to make people shut down. Burnout is not a personal failure; it results from treating care and rest as optional rather than essential (Forrester, 2023; Yuningsih et al., 2023).

Delight~Disrupt places joy at its core because joy fuels resilience. By intentionally centring joy, rest, and wellbeing, Delight~Disrupt challenges dominant narratives that label care as indulgent or unproductive. Instead, anyone who decides to be a delightful disruptor affirms care as a vital practice for both personal and collective survival. Reprioritising joy becomes both an act of resistance against systems that thrive on depletion and disconnection and a strategy for sustained effectiveness and delighting in life.

Why doing this together changes everything

Humans are social creatures, and change – especially positive change – is far more likely to endure when it is shared (Milstein, 2020; Milstein & Pulos, 2015).

Research consistently shows that when rituals and activities are shared, they strengthen relationships and create meaning within families, friendships, and workplaces (Norton, 2023). When people engage in joyful or caring practices together, they are more likely to sustain those behaviours because social influence and cultural norms reinforce adherence (Clear, 2018; Sima, 2025). Even mundane tasks become more meaningful and enjoyable in the company of others, making it easier to maintain positive habits over time (Sima, 2025).

The power of relationships in promoting wellbeing is well-documented. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been ongoing for almost 80 years, highlights that strong, trusting relationships – not wealth or achievement – are the clearest predictors of happiness and health (Waldinger & Schultz, 2023). Even brief moments of connection, such as friendly interactions with strangers, can boost mood and wellbeing (Epley & Schroeder, 2014).

And joy itself spreads through social interaction. Delight~Disrupt intentionally harnesses this by encouraging participants to celebrate each other’s efforts and share small positive actions, creating a ripple effect where joy becomes both a personal and cultural resource. This collective engagement counters dominant societal norms that often promote competition and isolation. Instead, delightful disruptors demonstrate that restorative transformation is accessible, social, and co-created.

Why reconnecting with all beings changes how we care

The emotional closeness and reciprocal care found in human relationships, along with their personal and collective benefits, mirror our connections with the rest of the living world, reinforcing that these bonds are essential for both individual and planetary health (Lengieza and Aviste, 2025).

Research shows that nature connectedness is one of the strongest predictors for environmentally positive behaviours (Mayer and Frantz, 2004; Nisbet et al., 2009; Lengieza and Aviste, 2025). Experiential practices such as ‘earthing’ and other direct interactions with nature also have measurable benefits for our wellbeing and even positively influence the human microbiome (Hsiao, 2022; Peck, 2019). When nature is experienced not as a separate thing but as all of us in relations, care becomes intuitive and sustained.

This relational understanding is deeply rooted in enduring Indigenous worldviews, which understand humans as embedded within and responsible to living systems (Kimmerer, 2013; Niigaaniin & MacNeill, 2022). These perspectives offer vital alternatives to extractive and colonial frameworks that treat nature merely as a resource to be exploited (Kimmerer, 2013; Plumwood, 2003; Woodward and McTaggart, 2019). The Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander principle of reciprocity, often expressed as “look after Country, Country will look after you,” exemplifies the ethic of mutual care and responsibility that Delight~Disrupt draws on (Woodward and McTaggart, 2019).

Delightful disruptors place a strong emphasis on reconnecting with the more-than-human world because ecological crises are fundamentally relational crises (Kimmerer, 2013; Milstein & Castro-Sotomayor, 2020). Delight~Disrupt playful moments help reorient a sense of belonging in and beyond the human sphere, fostering humility, responsibility, and a deeper understanding of interdependence, leaving us all better off.

How small practices add up to big systems change

Systems are sustained not only by institutions and policies but fundamentally by the values and everyday behaviours that shape our lives. Cultural theorist Antonio Gramsci (1971) explained that – rather than solely through laws or force – hegemonic power is maintained through our everyday practices that make dominant norms and beliefs come to feel natural and inevitable. Transforming these deeply embedded hegemonies requires more than simply raising awareness – it demands new practices that make alternative ways of being visible, viable, and contagious (Gramsci, 1971; Weinstein et al., 2015). Shifting our cultural norms and values, therefore, represents one of the most powerful leverage points for systemic change – a shift in our dominant paradigm (Meadows, 1999).

Intrinsic values such as care for others, concern for the natural world, and self-acceptance, are essential foundations for lasting social and planetary wellbeing (Public Interest Research Centre, 2011). Delightful disruptors operate precisely at this cultural level, by nurturing such intrinsic values through repeated, meaningful practices – or playful moments – that allow themselves to embody, manifest, and experience alternative ways of being. Over time, these practices transform what feels normal and desirable in daily life, moving beyond isolated personal habits to model a regenerative counterculture that challenges dominant systems rooted in extraction, competition, and individualism (Harvey, 2007; Kimmerer, 2013; Milstein & Castro-Sotomayor, 2020; O’Neill, 2022; Vogel, 1988).

Delight~Disrupt’s intentional cultivation of joy, care, and connection lays the groundwork for a global culture that prioritises collective wellbeing, mutual respect, and thriving for all. In this way, Delight~Disrupt offers a practical, fun, and actively hopeful pathway toward the large-scale cultural transformation needed to address the intertwined crises of our time.

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